Isis's Bane: Tar'Chell's Wrath
by althor42
Summary: Sequel to Isis' Bane. With the knowledge and technology of the goa'uld, and his own innovation, Harry becomes a force all his own in the galaxy. Exploring science and magic, Harry discovers the price of waging war.
1. 01 Rescuer

Rescuer

Rescuer

When Harry woke up, he had been moved. He was in his bed on the ship, and he had a very familiar headache. He groaned; he really hoped that he wouldn't have to do that ever again. He got out of his bed and made his way to the galley, hoping to get a glass of water. He couldn't remember being more thirsty in his life. Three glasses of water later, his thirst slaked, Harry went up to the control room, where he finally found Sarah. She was looking out the window at the wilderness.

"Um, hi," he said, his voice still scratchy.

She turned around, startled by his voice. "Oh, thank God you're awake."

"Mmm, how long was I asleep?"

"Two days, you just wouldn't wake up."

He nodded, and she crossed the room to him before continuing.

"Oh, thank you for coming back for me. I can never repay you for what you've given me. I thought I would spend the rest of my life trapped in my own body." She paused. "And I don't even know your name."

Harry realized that neither of the two goa'uld had ever mentioned it. He shrugged. "My names Harry. Harry Potter. Er, pleased to meet you."

Sarah went on. "I still can't believe that you came back for me. I don't even know how you did what you did. After you killed Isis, I tried so hard to take back control of my body, but I just couldn't."

"Oh. Well. I'm different, I've got a power inside of me, and I used it to push them out."

She looked confused. "I don't understand; how can you have a power inside of you?"

Harry grew uncomfortable; he hoped this woman wouldn't think badly of him like the Dursleys had. "Oh. Well, I don't know, I just do. I think it's always been there." He didn't want her to think that he was unnatural.

She laughed though. "I suppose I shouldn't let anything surprise me anymore. I'm just glad that you were able to free us." Her face became sad though and she sighed. "But I wish that you hadn't had to go through all of this. You must miss you family so much right now."

"Hm? Oh. Yeah." He put a hand to his head, which was still aching as it had when he had first woke up. "Ugh. I need to sit down."

Sarah became concerned. "Oh, what's wrong?"

Harry sat down in the one of the two chairs. "Osiris was a lot smarter than Isis was, she was a thinker."

"I don't understand." She had taken the chair next to him. "Should you be laying down still?"

Harry shook his head, "I'll be okay. Um, when I pushed them out of us, something connected them and me. I don't know if it was the pushing, or connecting with them with my power like that, but everything that they understood, or knew, went into me."

Her eyes widened. "You have their memories?"

"Er, no. I know the things that they knew, like that Isis' last host was left handed, and I can speak goa'uld and understand their technology. But I don't remember events that happened to them, or what they felt about things. I think that that would have been a lot worse."

"Oh, it doesn't sound good at all, Harry. I don't imagine having all of that in you could be all that pleasant, especially all of a sudden."

Harry shrugged. "I got used to it, the headache will go away." He rubbed his hands on his face, trying to make himself more alert.

She changed the subject slightly, "Harry, what happened to your arm, I tried to take your hand device off, but…"

"Um, it happened when I tried to push Osiris out of you the first time. Don't worry, it doesn't hurt." He looked out the window. "Um, what are they doing out there?" There were people standing at the edge of the clearing, watching the ship.

"Oh, they've been there since I've been awake. I suppose that they're from the village. Some of them were throwing rocks at the ship, yesterday, but they gave up on that. But Harry, we should be talking about your arm, that doesn't look good at all."

"It's not getting any worse. Did any of them approach the ship?" Harry was thinking of the hand device and zat'ni'katel that had changed places with Sarah and him when they had first ringed up.

She seemed reluctant to change the subject. "Not that I've seen, they've kept their distance."

Harry nodded and activated the rings, pushing the buttons instead of going through his hand device. He got up wearily to go check if the two devices and the knife had come aboard. Fortunately, they had. He picked them up and stowed them away in the living area. Sarah followed him as he did all this.

He wished that he hadn't gotten up though, as he found himself swaying on his feet. "Um, Sarah? I'm just going to lie down here, okay?" he said, already getting down onto the floor, groaning as his head touched the ground.

Sarah was by his side in an instant. "Are you all right? What's wrong?"

"'m just light headed. Don't worry, I'll be alright."

She felt his forehead and then his pulse. "Well, you don't have a fever, and you're pulse is okay. Oh, but you shouldn't be lying here on the floor." She reached under him and picked him up.

"What are you doing?" he mumbled.

"I'm carrying you to bed."

"Why?" he mumbled as his world went black.

!!

Back at Stargate Command, Jack and his team were again seated in the briefing room with General Hammond. The General had ordered their original mission scrubbed, and for them to return to base.

Jack knew that Daniel, who was sitting next to him, was eager to get down to business, due to the prospect of getting Sarah back to Earth. The guy had been antsy since Isis, or Harry, had broadcast his transmission over their radios. Jack wished that he'd calm down, seeing as they had two weeks to wait.

General Hammond started the meeting. "Jack, you're the one who came in contact with him. What's your opinion?"

Jack considered his words. "Well, sir, on the one hand, I don't think he noticed me to begin with, and he sure wasn't acting like a goa'uld."

"Explain."

"Well, he was crying for one, and, well, I think he was contemplating killing himself for a moment."

"What made you think that?"

"Well, the standing at the edge of a cliff with his arms out, followed by the crying tipped me off." Jack had almost blown his cover at that point, but the kid had sat down before he could reveal himself.

"I see."

"And he didn't talk like a goa'uld, or behave like a goa'uld."

"And on the other hand?"

"On the other hand, he had a pretty good grasp of goa'uld technology, and I don't see how the kid could just be free of a symbiote."

"In other words, you don't know one way or another." Jack liked his way of saying it better.

Carter spoke up. "I actually have a theory about what could have happened, sir."

General Hammond nodded to her, "go on."

"We know that those two goa'uld were kept in stasis for thousands of years. Now, it appeared as though they came out none the worse for it, but it may be that their bodies degraded over time. It's possible that Isis did just die."

"Does not a goa'uld symbiote release a deadly toxin into its host when it is dying?"

Sam nodded. "And presumably the same would have happened, but we don't really know what's happened to them in these past five months."

General Hammond sighed. "I am not comfortable with how little we know about this situation.

"But General," Daniel interjected, "we can't just ignore this. We have a chance here to retrieve two abducted US citizens, and maybe to capture a goa'uld. I think that's worth taking a risk on the unknown."

The General addressed him. "Son, are you saying that as a member of the SGC, or as someone who wants to rescue a person they have feelings for."

Daniel was silent for a moment. "Both."

General Hammond nodded. "I have no intention of ignoring this opportunity, but I don't plan on playing by the rules of either a goa'uld or a nine year old boy."

"Sir," Jack spoke up. "There is something else. I don't know how he did it, but the boy seemed to have telekinetic abilities. He disarmed me twice with a gesture of his hands. I haven't seen anything like it before."

General Hammond looked to Sam. "Major, do you have any theories?"

Sam shrugged. "Off hand sir, it's possible that this is some technology that was popular eight thousand years ago, and has since fallen out of favor. Or, it could be technology known only to Osiris and Isis, which stayed buried for the eight thousand years that they were in stasis."

He nodded. "Now, I'd like to hear some ideas on how to do this without falling into a trap."

Jack had been thinking of what to do since receiving the boy's message. "I think that our presence on the planet be by remote only. We can leave a MALP and a radio by the rings, waiting for her. We'll keep an outgoing wormhole to the planet to send signals through. We watch as she comes down, and we tell her what to do. We direct her to another planet, where we'll set up a temporary base to check her out. If we can get the tok'ra to help, then all the better. We can bring her back to Earth when we're sure she's safe."

Sam looked at him. "You keep saying 'her,' sir. If Harry is free somehow, then don't you expect him to come as well?"

"He said that he'd be dropping her off, both times. He never mentioned himself. If this is Harry, I don't know that he intends to come home. He certainly doesn't have much of one to go back to."

They were all quiet while they pondered what he had said. George spoke up.

"If we are dealing with a nine year old boy who doesn't want to come home, how do we make him?"

"I don't know that we can, sir," said Sam, "if he stays in his ship, I don't think we can force him to do anything. Presumably, he won't just send Sarah down without checking to see what's on the ring platform first, so we couldn't send anyone up to the ship."

"We could try _talking_ to him," said Daniel.

General Hammond nodded. "That may be the best we can do now, but I'd like for you to think of other options until then. Now, I'd like you to iron out all the details of this plan of yours. I want the proposal on my desk in the morning. Anything else?"

No one had anything to say.

!!

As he became conscious, Harry marveled on how much nicer it was to wake up in a bed, as opposed to chairs and floors. He was feeling much better than the last time he had woken up. He opened his eyes and looked around the room. Sarah was sitting next to his bed. He rubbed his eyes.

"Mmm. How long have I been asleep this time?"

"Only a few hours. How are you feeling?" she asked, leaning over to him.

"Better," he said, sitting up.

"Now don't you get up. You haven't eaten in at least two days, and you aren't leaving this bed until you do."

"How am I supposed to get food if I can't leave the bed."

"I'll get it for you, of course."

"Oh. Um, okay." He sat back, momentarily surprised that she would be, in effect, bringing him breakfast in bed. When she brought him back a plate with fruit and cheese, and a goblet with milk, he accepted them before saying, "You know, you don't have to be so nice to me just because I rescued you."

She looked at him, surprised. "Harry, I can never repay you for what you did for me."

"I only did what I should have done-" he started, but she interrupted him.

"What you should have done was go back to Earth. You're, what, almost eight years old?"

"I'm nine and a half," said Harry, defensive about his size.

"Nine and a half, then. Harry, I'm an adult. If you had died rescuing me… You should have stayed safe, and sent adults to get me."

Harry protested. "Earth was five months away, and another five months back. Osiris could have unburied the gate by then, and then who knows what could have happened to you." He didn't know why she was making such a big deal out of this. She knew that he wasn't a normal boy.

She shook her head. "Still, what you did went beyond any obligation you had to me."

Harry shifted uncomfortably. He hadn't wanted her to feel indebted to him. "Still, you don't have to be so nice to me."

She smiled at him. "Even if you hadn't rescued me, this isn't anything special. You're a kid who's under the weather, and I'm helping to take care of you. At the moment, we're all we've got. Now, I expect you to eat all of that."

Harry looked down at his plate. It was more than he was used to eating recently (more than he usually ate at the Dursleys too). Then again, he hadn't eaten in two days. He started eating, still unsure of whether or not she was just being nice because he had rescued him.

She made conversation with him while he ate. She told him about her work as an archeologist, and about her friend Daniel's theories about the ancient pyramids which she now knew to be true (Harry remembered the man from the tomb). She also asked him about his own life, and Harry wound up giving her vague answers. He told her that he lived with his aunt and uncle, how he did academically, what games he liked to play during physical fitness at school. He thought that she could tell that he was holding back.

He did like listening to her talk though. Aside from the man on Oberdad, Harry hadn't spoken to anyone in months (his conversation with the two goa'uld didn't count). She was nice, and he liked hearing about some of the interesting things she had done with her life. When he was finished with his breakfast though, she wanted to talk about what their plan should be.

"I suppose we should turn back to earth now."

Harry shook his head. "That wouldn't be safe. Obviously, you Americans have been toying around with a Stargate. We don't know what technology you've taken back to Earth. I don't know what technology is open to them. For all we know, they have defenses that will shoot us out of the sky as soon as we get there. Same goes for the Stargate, we can't just dial earth and walk through, and if they're smart, they won't let us if we ask to. Don't worry though; I already know what we'll do. I went to a planet named Oberdad, that's where I got the zat'ni'katel. I made contact with some people from Earth, they think I'm still a goa'uld, but I told them that we'd be showing up. I think that they should have figured a way to take you back to earth without risking anything."

Sarah was obviously surprised. "You've thought of everything, haven't you?"

"Oh, well, I was lucky. I didn't know that I'd meet anyone from Earth there. Besides, I don't even know what's going to happen when we get there, especially if they think we might still be goa'uld."

"Well, anyway, you've done magnificently. They must be proud of you at home."

Harry changed the subject. "We don't have to go back right now, if you don't want to. We've got a week and a half until they expect us."

"Well what would we do until then?"

Harry realized that he hadn't thought about that part. Truthfully, Harry wasn't planning on going back to Earth with Sarah. He knew that he had no home to go to there. At least here he had a ship and a bed, he was no longer at the mercy of the Dursleys. But he liked Sarah's company, and he didn't want to be alone again. Even if she did only like him because he'd rescued her, at least she was nice to him.

He thought about where they could go and remembered that the planet had three ring platforms, one of which was nowhere near any human populations.

"We could go camping, on the other side of the planet. No one lives there, we could just relax for a little while, get off of the ship before we have to go back. Think of it like a vacation, I mean when you get to Earth, it's just going to be tests to make sure you're not a host, and questions and who knows what. I'm sure you want to get back to your life, but couldn't we just take a little time to catch our breath?"

She considered him. "You're not ready to go home, are you?"

Harry felt bad for letting her think that he was planning on going home. "I'm not."

Sarah nodded. "All right then, we can take a little time to take a break."

Harry grinned. "Cool."

!!

As Sam stood waiting in the gate room for her father, she wondered on how she had grown closer to her father, now that he spent most of his time light years away. Jacob was coming to Earth at the General's request; they were hoping that the tok'ra would be able to help them with the upcoming situation.

Her father stepped through the active stargate and walked down the ramp towards her.

"Sam," he greeted her.

"Hi Dad," she said, stepping forward to embrace him.

"How have you been," he asked, taking a step back to look at her with the searching look of a father.

"I've been well, how about yourself?"

"Selmak and I have been fine. We've just come back from a recon mission."

"Well, I hope it was fruitful."

"It was. Now tell me about what's going on with Osiris."

They started out through the blast doors, making their way to the briefing room.

"Actually, most of this is to do with Isis. Four days ago, Colonel O'Neill made contact with either Isis or his host on P3X-279. Whichever he was, he claimed that Isis was dead. The Colonel confronted him and he ran away in the ship they got in Egypt. Before he left though, he promised to bring Sarah back to the planet, with or without Osiris."

"You think he might be what he claims to be?"

"I think it's possible, but if he isn't, I think he may have underestimated what we're capable of."

Her father nodded. "What's your plan?"

"Well, we're hoping that you're going to be a big part of it. We don't plan to be on the planet ourselves. We'll leave a MALP and a radio, and instruct her to go to another, unpopulated, planet. That's where you'd come in. We could X-ray her to see if there's a symbiote or not, but that might not reveal any traps left in her body."

"You want us to scan her."

"We'd also like a za'tarc detector, to verify her story."

Her father nodded. "That's all doable, but what about the boy?"

Sam sighed. "We're not sure about him."

!!

The boy in question was reluctantly beaming back up to the ship as Sam and her father were speaking. He and Sarah had spent a day and a night exploring the planet's surface, and sleeping under the stars. Sarah had speculated that the ring platform that they had used had been placed there solely so that people could beam down and enjoy the landscape. Harry was skeptical that a goa'uld would be so sentimental, but he couldn't say otherwise. It had been wonderful though, to spend time off of the ship doing only what they felt like doing. There was no mission, no life or death situation, just each other for companionship and the world around them. Harry got to climb up trees and rocks, and for the first time, no one was chasing him.

Now though, it was time to go. Harry knew that Sarah wanted to go home. Oh, she had enjoyed taking a little time to relax and explore, but she had been gone for over five months. He knew that she missed the people that she had left behind. Once on the ship again, Harry made his way to the living area with Sarah. He told her to take a seat.

"You'll need to brace yourself for the acceleration." He reached through his hand device and told the ship to make the journey to Oberdad.

Her eyes widened as the ship accelerated. "That was a lot faster than I remember."

Harry thought that it probably wouldn't be a good idea to tell her that he had been meddling with the ships systems. "Yeah, I set it to go faster. The inertial dampeners have a hard time keeping up though." He changed the subject. "So, I bet you'll be happy to getting back to your old life."

She laughed, almost bitterly. "I'll try my best to go back to everything, but nothing will be the same again, I don't think. Not after all this. I- Osiris killed my mentor, Doctor Jordan. I'm scarred of going back to that office, and facing all of the people I work with. What they must think about all this…"

Harry looked down and didn't say anything. His thoughts turned to the unnamed boy.

She looked up at him. "Oh, Harry, I'm sure they'll be happy to see you when you get home. They must think you've been kidnapped, or something of the sort."

Harry shook his head, and she realized that he was thinking of something else.

"Oh, Harry. That boy. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say- Harry, you mustn't blame yourself for what Isis did."

Harry stood to leave, he didn't want to have this conversation, to have to admit his guilt.

"Harry, wait. Please, don't leave," she pleaded, and Harry stopped for the pleading in her voiced. "Harry, that wasn't your fault. I know that it was horrible; I still remember it so clearly. But Harry, you couldn't control yourself."

Harry shook his head and closed his eyes. "I should have pushed him out already. I could have, but I was scared. I didn't want to feel that pain again. It's my fault that kid's dead."

He felt Sarah's hand on his shoulder. "Harry, I know that pain. Osiris made me feel it, just to show me that she could. I never fought her after that, not until you escaped. I can't blame you for that, Harry. You're nine years old, a grown man wouldn't want to do that again."

"I still should have done it."

"No, Harry. You can't expect that of yourself. Do you blame me?"

He tuned to her. "No, you couldn't have stopped her."

"But I'm the one who let her go, I opened her stasis jar, and started all of this. I was responsible for my own actions, you weren't. If you can't blame me, then you can't blame yourself."

Harry sat down. "It's just, I can remember it so clearly: the feel of his… neck in my hand. The sound…" He trailed off.

"I know. Believe me, I know. But Harry, you beat Isis, and to me, you were a hero. If you blame yourself for his actions though, if you can't let this go, you'll be giving him a victory over you. Blame Isis; hate him even, but don't blame yourself."

Harry felt a few warm tears run down his face. "I don't want to feel like this."

"I know, and you won't, not always. Trust me, Harry. You're going to get better, just remember that none of this is your fault."

Harry nodded, and he felt her arms go around him. It was the first hug he could remember receiving. Unsure of the motion, he threw his arms around her and held on.

"You'll be okay, Harry," she whispered, "just you wait and see."

!!

Back at the SGC, Sam was walking her father down to the gate room so that he could return to the tok'ra base on Revanna. They had gone over the plan, to the last detail, and both Jacob and Selmak were confident that it was a good one. They were skeptical, of course, that either Isis or Osiris would be dead.

"I'll stay longer next time, of course," he said. "But I'm expected to be in a meeting soon."

"I understand." She knew that she'd be seeing him soon anyway.

"And the next time I see you, you'll have to tell me more about this suitor from another plane of existence."

Teal'c really did have a big mouth sometimes, for all that he was a man of few words. To her embarrassment, she felt herself blush. "I don't think you have to worry about my virtue from this guy. Past sneaking into my house, he was quite a gentleman."

Her father scoffed. "If I ever get to meet this guy, I'll have to give him the 'what are your intentions towards my daughter' speech."

Sam rolled her eyes, just as the alarm went off, signaling an unscheduled off-world activation of the Stargate. She and her father shared a look before changing course to the control room.

"What's going on?" she asked of the gate technician on duty.

"I'm not sure, ma'am." He put in a command on his computer. "I'm getting a signal from the MALP we left on P3X-279. Here's visual."

One of the scenes changed to show the area around the planet's Stargate. Or, it would have if there hadn't been a large ship in the way.

"That's a goa'uld ship," she said. Her father shook her head.

"That model hasn't been seen for thousands of years. I'd say it's a good bet that this is Osiris' ship."

She nodded. The gate technician spoke up as the General walked into the room. "I'm getting a radio signal through the Stargate. I'm putting it through."

A child's voice came over the speakers.

"Um. Hi. My name's Harry Potter, is this Earth?"

The General went over to a microphone and pushed the button to turn it on.

"This is General Hammond of the United States Air Force. Do not step through the gate. If you do, you will not rematerialize on our side."

"Oh. That's okay. I just called because, I know that I said two weeks, but I got done super fast. I have Sarah with me, so I'm ready whenever you're ready."

The General turned to her father. "Jacob, how soon can you have the necessary items ready for us?"

"One, two hours at the most. I don't think that I'll be able to go, but Freya and Anise would be happy to have another test subject for their za'tarc detector."

"Hello?" the voice called through the speakers.

"Yes," answered the General. "You'll need to give us two hours to prepare. I hope you understand that we cannot know yet whether you are still a host or not. As such, we will have to take certain precautions, in order to guarantee our safety."

"I understand."

"Very well. When the wormhole closes, we expect you to send your ship back into orbit. We will send certain items through the gate momentarily. When we activate the gate in two hours, we expect you to use the rings to transport down. Do not return before then, we will know if you approach the gate. When you ring down, follow all instructions given to you. Do you understand?"

"I understand. I'll take off now." He ended the transmission. On the monitor, the ship began to rise, and the MALP's camera followed it until it went out of sight."

When the gate shut down, they quickly dialed Revanna so that her father could get them what they needed. The General turned to her.

"Have Colonel O'Neill and Doctor Jackson returned to base yet?"

"No sir."

"Then I want you, Teal'c, and SG-3 to go to P4X-122 to set up. You need to be ready in two hours."

"Yes, sir."

"And have Colonel O'Neill and Doctor Jackson return to the base. They may both be useful."

!!

Harry had calmed down by the time the ship reached Oberdad. He had landed the ship in front of the Stargate control device, in case the people from Earth had left someone to watch for them. He didn't want to get shot at again. He ringed down to the planet only long enough to dial the coordinates to what he thought should be Earth. Now, the two hours was up, the sensors had shown the Stargate activating, and it was time for Harry to say goodbye. Or, it would be if he had any intention of telling Sarah that he wasn't coming with her. He didn't think that she'd cooperate if she knew.

"Well, time to go," she said. They were standing by the ring platform. Both of them were apprehensive of what was about to happen, though for different reasons.

"Ladies first," Harry gestured to the rings.

She laughed and walked into the center before turning to look at him expectantly.

"I'm sorry Sarah. But I don't think I have a home to return to."

Her eyes widened and took a step towards him. "Wait, Harry-"

"Goodbye," Harry said as he activated the rings.

And then he was alone.

!!


	2. 02 Gone

Gone

"Harry!" Sarah shouted, though it was useless. Harry was in orbit, and couldn't hear her. "Don't go, Harry. Come with me. Please."

"Ma'am," a woman's voice came through a speaker on the robotic vehicle. "Ma'am, he can't hear you. We will try to get him to come home, but the best way for you to help him right now is to prove to us that you are not a goa'uld."

Sarah put a hand to her head and was silent for a moment. "What do I do?"

"You're going to need to forget your modesty for a while. You can't take anything you have with you through the gate. There is a box next to the ring platform. Step down next to it, place all clothing and other apparel into it, and close the lid. Then, hold out your arms and turn for the camera. There is a hospital gown next to the box, and a piece of paper with a gate address. Once dressed, go to the DHD, and when the gate shuts down, dial that address immediately, then press the red button. Go straight through the wormhole. Do you understand all of the instructions that I have given you?"

She had flushed when she first heard the instructions. "I understand." If it meant she could go home, she'd do whatever they told her. "What about Harry?"

"An officer is speaking to him now. We are trying to bring him home. As I said, the sooner we know that you aren't a goa'uld, the better we'll be able to help Harry."

She nodded and stepped off the platform, starting to undress. The box was made from thick metal, and looked like a safe, except it seemed to lack anything that would open it, once closed. It sat on a robotic platform, identical to another that held the gown and gate address. Everything went into the box, which she shut. As she turned, the box started to make it's way to the gate, stopping immediately in front of it. She dressed and walked to the DHD.

The voice came over the speaker again. "Familiarize yourself with the buttons you will need to push. We will know if you stray from the DHD."

She looked over the symbols, and realized that they really wanted her to dial the address the second that the gate shut down. A minute later, the shimmering field disappeared, and she dialed the gate. As it activated, the vortex vaporized the box, and everything she had put in it. She took a deep breath, and walked to the gate. She hesitated.

A different voice came over the speaker. "There's really nothing to it ma'am."

She closed her eyes, and stepped through.  
!!!!!

As Sam was relaying her instructions to Sarah, Jack was trying to hail the boy's ship. Or actually, Sergeant Siler was hailing the ship. For the moment, Jack was just sitting there.

"Hello?" the boy's voice came over the speaker.

"Hello," Jack responded. "My name's Colonel Jack O'Neill, I'm the guy who shot at you a few days ago.

"I recognize your voice."

"So, are you waiting to see what happens?" There was always hope. The boy paused before responding.

"I'm not coming back."

"We're not mad at you, you're not in any trouble. We just want to help you."

"That's not- I'm just- I can't go home, okay?"

Jack sighed. He was really glad that the Dursleys were facing a criminal investigation back in the UK. "I know."

"What do you mean, 'you know'?"

"I mean I've met your Aunt and Uncle. I know they didn't treat you well, and you wouldn't have to go back to them." Again, there was a wait before he responded.

"Exactly then, I don't really have anywhere to go anyway."

"Kid, you were born here in the United States. Did you know that?"

"No."

"That means that you're a citizen here too. That means that we can look out for you. You could live with a real family, one that would take care of you."

"So what, they'd just figure out what I am too, and then I'd be right were I started. I'm not going to let that happen again. Now, I didn't just stick around to make sure Sarah got through okay, and I didn't do it to chat. I want to make a trade."

"A trade?"

"Yeah. I'm guessing you want alien technology, and I want food, books, pencils and paper. I can give you a hand device, and I'd like the food to be fresh. And no little kids books."

Jack sighed. This wasn't going very well. "Well Harry, I can't make a trade with you right now, we don't even know if Sarah is a goa'uld or not."

"Okay, but when you do."

"Then the decision is General Hammond's. But I think we'd all much rather you come home than anything else."

"Look, if you don't want to make a deal, I'll just go, okay?"

Sam started gesturing to him from the other side of the room. "Okay, Harry, the gate's going to shut down in a moment. We'll dial back as soon as we can determine whether or not Sarah still carries a symbiote. Will you wait?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, it shouldn't be too long before I contact you again. Hold tight."

He gave a thumbs up to Sam, who let the gate shut down.

!!!!!

Sarah stepped out on a grassy field. The sky was green. She wasn't on Earth. There were four men in front of her with large guns pointed at her. The one closest to her spoke, "Keep you hands where we can see them, and make no sudden moves. You will need to come with us."

Sarah didn't have it in her to respond verbally to any of this. She followed their directions, and was escorted to a large tent. There were two women inside with a few machines that she couldn't identify. The men all took positions in the tent: two in the doorway, and the others in the back.

"This isn't Earth," she finally said to the women.

"We want to make sure you're safe to bring back before we take you there," said the taller of the two, who Sarah finally recognized as being one of the women from the tomb.

"You already disintegrated everything I had. How can I be a danger to Earth?"

The same woman answered. "The goa'uld put bombs in the hearts of little girls, and deadly plagues in the teeth of little boys. We need to clear you of all forms of attack that they might use."

"Nothing like that happened to me."

"Your memories might not be your own. Now, my name is Doctor Frasier, and this is Freya. Please, lay down on this table for now, and we'll try to do this as quickly as possible."

She lay down, and the woman, Freya, approached her with a hand held device. The woman started waving it over her body.

"There is no symbiote within her. I can find no signs of technology within. There are metal pins in her arm, made of a titanium alloy."

"Surgical pins," said the Doctor.

"There are no toxins, infections, nothing hidden. She is as she seems."

"Very well," said the Doctor. "You men can stand down. Sarah, now we can go to Earth.

"Oh, thank goodness," said Sarah, getting off the table. They all exited the tent and made their way to the gate. One of the soldiers dialed the gate. Sarah turned to the Doctor. "Do you know anything about Harry? The woman said that when you knew that I wasn't a goa'uld, you'd be able to figure out a way to bring him back."

"I don't know what's been happening, but we planned to have an officer hail the ship through the Stargate, and try to talk him down. Knowing that you aren't infested gives him more knowledge to work with."

"That's it? That's your plan? He needs to come home, he can't just stay alone on that ship, out in the galaxy."

The gate activated. "I know it's not much, but our options are limited. We will do our best to bring him home. We hope that you'll be able to help us with that, by telling us what you know about him."

"Of course, I'll do whatever I can."

One of the airmen spoke up, "the Iris is open Ma'am."

"Thank you, Captain," answered the Doctor.

Freya walked through the gate, and Doctor Frasier motioned for Sarah to follow. On the other side of the gate, Sarah found herself in a large concrete room. There were numerous armed guards, and while none of them had a weapon pointed at her, they were all watching her. The gate shut down after the four soldiers walked through. Sarah was led out of the room, this time with a guard of two airmen.

She was led to a room with an obviously alien device on the table, and chair with heavy straps. She stopped in the doorway and turned to the Doctor.

"What is this?"

"As I said, we can't trust your memories. This machine will tell us if you're telling the truth, whether you know it or not."

"And the chair?"

Freya spoke up. "The technology seeks to detect za'tarcs: assassins perfect for the virtue of not knowing what they are. They are programmed for a target, and then given false memories to cover what happened to them. When uncovered, they trigger, and become violent. The chair is for our protection, and yours. The process is not painful."

"Nothing like that happened to me."

"That remains to be seen."

"Sarah," said Doctor Frasier, "you said that you'd do everything you could to help us.

"Yes," she sighed, "of course," she said, and walked forward to sit in the chair. The two other women fastened the straps around her.

Freya sat down in front of the machine, and soon a light was shining in her eyes. She blinked a few times, getting used to it.

"Where did you first go after leaving Earth?" Freya was asking the questions.

"Osiris and Isis went to a planet they called Calaissis."

"How long did it take them to get there?"

"Five months."

"Exactly?"

"Um, twenty-one weeks, and two days."

Freya nodded. "Did you ever encounter any other ships while en rout to Calaissis?"

"No."

"What happened when you arrived at Calaissis?"

"They ringed down to the surface. They discovered that the gate was buried there. They went to the nearest town to find what information they could. The natives were hostile, so they shielded themselves. They called the ship to their position, and Isis killed a boy. Osiris pushed them back with her hand device. Then they ringed up."

"You later returned to the planet?"

"Yes. Harry, somehow, he forced Isis out of his body, and then he killed him."

"What manner of technology was involved?"

"There wasn't any."

"A host cannot force a symbiote out of its body. It has never occurred."

"Well, he did. He said, later, that he has some sort of power inside of him."

Doctor Frasier spoke up, "Perhaps we should move on for the moment."

"Very well," said Freya. "What happened after Isis was ejected from the host body?"

"Well, Osiris was enraged. She started torturing Harry. But Harry grabbed her arm, and I felt it in me, his energy, for a moment. The two of us were blasted apart. Harry ran from Osiris, and she went after him. He tried to ring to the planet, but she pushed him off of the platform with her hand device. She made the mistake of stepping onto the platform herself. Harry activated the rings, and then turned off the platform. Osiris tried to call the ship to her, but he managed to lock her out of the system."

Freya was beginning to seem disgruntled. "The host should not have had the knowledge required to do so."

"He said that he retained all of Isis' semantic memory, and fortunately, none of his episodic memory."

Freya frowned at the readout. "Were those his words, or are you translating what he said."

"Oh, the later."

Freya nodded. "That still makes no sense." She frowned then. "This is impossible."

"What is?"

"Harry Potter arrived on Oberdad a week later. He would have been traveling at maximum speed for a ship that old. How then, did he return with you in less than a week?"

"He said that he made the ship go faster."

"Even if he had Isis' knowledge, he could not have modified his ship to go so fast."

"I felt the difference, when he accelerated. The inertial dampeners had a hard time keeping up."

Freya remained silent, so Doctor Frasier spoke up.

"Why don't you continue the story?"

"Well, Osiris wound up walking for a long time…"  
!!!!!

Janet joined Jack some time later.

"What have you got?" he asked her.

"More questions than when we started. As best we can tell, Sarah isn't a Za'tarc, and all of her memories are accurate. On the other hand, none of what she remembers makes sense."

"Well maybe the machine is broken."

"Anise says it's fine. Besides, if her memories had been tampered with, any goa'uld would have replaced them with something that made sense at least."

"So what doesn't make sense?"

"Apparently, Harry has special powers that eject goa'uld symbiotes, and can make ships go far faster than they should."

"Maybe a hok'taur then?"

"Descended from an ancient goa'uld experiment, maybe. You said that his relatives thought that he was 'unnatural,' but Sarah said that his power seemed new to him, that he hadn't known it existed. What if his relatives knew about it, because one of his parents had abilities?"

"Probably his mother then. Oh, I hope I don't have to go back to England again." He turned to Sergeant Siler. "Hail the ship again."

Harry's voice came over the radio, "Hello."

"Hey, Harry. It's Jack again. I was wondering if maybe you didn't want to come home because of your magic powers."

The response was fast and automatic. "There's no such thing as magic."

"Is that what you Uncle told you?"

"They knew, I don't know how, but they knew."

"So you turned your teachers hair blue then?"

"I didn't mean to, but I paid for it. That's not going to happen again, I'm free now. I'm not going to be a burden on anyone else."

Jack pulled back from the microphone and growled low in his throat, before addressing the boy. "Harry, you may be different, but that doesn't make your relatives right. You don't have to expect that from everyone else, we can find you a place to fit in. What about Sarah?"

"What about her?"

"Well she knew that you have abilities, but she didn't treat you poorly, did she?"

"That's different, I saved her. She probably felt indebted."

"She probably just liked you Harry, because you're a likable guy. You can't expect everyone to hate you just because you're different."

Harry made a noise, and Jack could tell that he was getting on the kid's nerves. "Look, I'm not going to talk about this, okay? I can go right now, but I'd rather make that trade. Now, I'm guessing that you're pretty sure that I'm not a goa'uld, so you can make the deal with me. What's it going to be?"

Jack had been told that he could make the trade, if he didn't think he could get the boy home. It wasn't so much that they wanted the hand device, but that at least this way, they could see to his well being to some degree, and hope he lived to come home some day.

"I can make the deal, Harry, and we'll throw in some other stuff as well."

"Like what?" The boy sounded suspicious.

"Like a first aid kit, and a computer. We want to make sure you'll be alright."

"All right then. But no funny business."

"There's nothing funny about this."

!!!!!

Aboard his ship, Harry waited for the Stargate to activate again. It had been twenty minutes since Harry had spoken to the guy who had shot at him earlier. The conversation hadn't gone at all the way Harry had wanted, the man had known far too much. Hopefully though, Harry would have what he wanted soon enough, and then he could go anywhere.

The gate activated miles below, and out of it came a man and a large RC transport. Both made their way to the ring platform, and the man started unloading the contents of the transport onto the platform. When he finished, O'Neill's voice came over the intercom.

"That's all of it, Harry, you can make the switch now."

Harry activated the rings. He had all ready placed the hand device on the platform.

"You know, Harry, you can still come down, it's not too late."

"Goodbye, Jack, maybe I'll see you around." He didn't wait for a response, and engaged the hyperdrive.  
!!!!!

Between talks with Jack, Harry had thought about his options. He knew that he wanted to strike back at the goa'uld, but he knew that he was in no position to do so. His ship was far too old. Oh, he could certainly enhance all of the systems, as he had the hyperdrive, but there was only so much such a small ship could do. What he needed, he had realized, was a more powerful power source. What he needed was naquadria.

Osiris had had a spy in the ranks of the goa'uld Thanos, who had been developing the technology thousands of years ago. Harry knew what planet he would most likely find the mineral on. He only hoped that Thanos was gone from there. If the goa'uld was there, though, Harry vowed to be ready.

He set about doing everything he could to his systems. He parked the ship in the dead of space, away from everything while he went over the ship, system by system. He found that nothing on the ship did anything efficiently, and it was easy to improve on function there. Things got more interesting where the goa'uld had obviously built something stupidly. Harry pushed himself into all of the systems, and felt them as they worked. The hyperdrive wasn't the only system that went about things wrong, Harry was able to manipulate both the shields and the plasma cannons to work much better, though it required some physical manipulation of their components. By the time he finished, Harry felt that the ship could stand against an eight thousand year old mother ship, but he seriously doubted that it could last long against anything modern. He took comfort from the fact that he hadn't yet encountered naquadria yet, though he had yet to encounter much, so with luck, he'd be able to gain an advantage.

It took two days to reach the planet that Thanos had conducted his research on. Harry set the ship to drop out of hyperspace, do a scan, and immediately jump again. The scan was promising. There were no signs of active goa'uld technology. Harry set the ship to go back to the planet, and set itself in orbit. He set a more extensive scan over the planet, looking for the radiation that would indicate the presence of naquadria. He found deposits in multiple locations, as well as a small stockpile in the middle of a city. He focused on a deposit that was conveniently placed near a ring platform, and removed by a few miles from the nearest settlement.

Harry packed a bag with enough provisions for a couple of days, and included the laptop computer that he had been sent. It contained hundreds of texts, most of them fiction, but also a more than a few educational ones, that Harry supposed were what he would be learning were he still in school. The device had been modified to draw power from goa'uld power sources, and Harry had had no problem connecting it to his ship, after making sure that there was no virus on the machine.

Harry planned on going down to the planet's surface, and trekking to where the deposits came closest to the surface. With luck, he would be able to retrieve some samples of the mineral. Enough to power his ship, he hoped.

After ringing down, Harry set out in the direction his scanners had told him the naquadria was closest to the surface. As he walked, he extended his power, his 'magic' as the man had called it, out around him, hoping that it would resonate with the radioactive naquadria. He of course would have to make sure to not touch the material directly, though his healing powers would protect him from most of it's effects. It took him over a day to find a spot where the naquadria came close enough to the surface for him to be able to reach it. He found an appreciable amount of naquadria only ten feet from the surface.

He first activated his shield against the radiation. He had originally planned to use his hand device to blast down to the mineral, but he decided to practice with his magic. It made him almost giddy to name it such, though for all he knew, that was exactly what it was. It certainly didn't conform to any of the laws of the universe that he knew. It took him a while to achieve a concussive force that had an effect on the rocky ground in front of him, and much longer to achieve exactly the effect he wanted, but he started making quick progress after a few hours of working at it. He reached the vein of the mineral as the sun started to set.

He broke up the mineral out of the ground as best he could, freeing up a few pounds of it. Without touching the rocks, he levitated them into a storage box, which would block the radioactive rays. He made his way away from the spot he had been digging at, and set up camp. He didn't want to call down the ship, because he didn't want anyone to know that he had been there. He didn't know when he might need more.

He built himself a campfire that night, and continued a story he'd been reading from the laptop: Charles Dickens' Oliver. Harry hadn't been able to ignore the parallels that ran between their lives. That night, he was able to eat a cold-cut sandwich, with mayonnaise, mustard, and lettuce. Harry relished the expansion in his food options.

He took his bounty back to the ship the next day, and set the ship to hide behind one of the planet's moons. He wanted a safe place to stay while he experimented with the naquadria, and this planet seemed to lack any goa'uld activity. They were advanced though, to a point, and Harry didn't want to be spotted, if he could help it.

Harry always worked on the naquadria from behind his shield. He began by removing the impurities from the ore. Since he had no ore refining technology on the ship, he had to figure out how to do it with magic. It was a week before he had a pure enough sample, though granted he did other things with his time as well. When he scanned the sample, the results were both impressive and daunting. There was great energy potential in the metal, yet Harry couldn't immediately see a way to counter its inherent instability.

It was by accident that Harry realized how to easily move past the problem. He had been theorizing complex systems that would try to predict and control output from the material. It was vaguely possible, but Harry figured that he was far away from achieving that. His epiphany came from the storage box he kept the naquadria in. He realized that a few particles of the naquedah in the box had become radioactive themselves, and had in fact been turned into naquadria. After more thought, Harry drew out a system in which a core of naquadria was surrounded by a naquadria/naquedah mix, surrounded by naquedah. He theorized that he could draw stable power through this. It took him three days to figure out how to achieve such a mix. In the mean time, he had finished Oliver, the Time Machine, and was now making his way through Angels and Demons. When he had his core though, he realized that he couldn't use it without frying all of his systems. No mater what, his ship wasn't built to handle the kind of energy created by his naquadria core.

Not sure of what to do, Harry started to write the code that would be needed to handle the naquadria core, and planned out the modifications that would need to be made to his ship. Eventually, he decided that he couldn't just do it all on his own. Especially when it came to acquiring the needed parts. Reluctantly, he made his way back to Oberdad. He had another proposition for the people of Earth.

!!!!!

Three days later, he had everything ready. He ringed down and dialed Earth once more, before ringing back to his ship.

"Hello," he broadcast.

"This is Stargate Command, of the United States Air Force, of Earth. Please identify yourself."

"It's me, Harry. I was hoping to speak to Jack, or whoever's in charge."

"Please wait." A couple minutes later, a foreign voice came on the line.

"This is General George Hammond. I assume that this is Harry Potter?"

"That's right, sir."

"Is it too much to hope that you're ready to come to Earth?"

"Um, yes."

"Is this another trade then?"

"Of a sort, sir. I'll give you technological knowledge, and the means of using and replicating it, and in return, you give me some materials, and a clever engineer to help me refit my ship."

"That sounds like an interesting proposition, we'll need to iron out the details, but I'd rather not keep this wormhole open for long. Perhaps we could meet in person."

"That could be possible."

"We can forward you an address, and meet you there."

Harry laughed, "I'm not that thick, sir."

The man laughed as well, "You can't blame an old man for trying. Very well, I will send Colonel O'Neill and Doctor Carter through to you. You'll have to meet on the surface though."

"All right then. I will ring down as soon as the two are through the gate, and the gate has shut down."

"Very well, I'll send them through in twenty."

They both ended the transmission, and the gate shut down.

Twenty-two minutes later, the gate activated, and two people walked out, before the gate shut down. Harry beamed himself down. The two turned to him.

"Hello again," he said to them. "Sorry I shot you," he said to the Doctor, for she was one of the women from Egypt.

"Oh, that's all right." She seemed surprised that he had mentioned it.

"I hope you don't mind, I'll be staying on the ring platform."

"That's okay," said Jack, "we have no plan of abducting you."

"Well it didn't work out the last time you tried."

"True."

"Anyway, the reason I'm here is that I've been developing naquadria technology. Have you heard of it?"

The Doctor shook her head. "What is it?"

"It's a radioactive isotope of naquedah, found, as far as I know, on only one planet. It has incredible power potential, and it would allow you to make things smaller."

"Smaller?" asked Jack.

"My hyperdrive requires two large bricks of naquedah, but I only need a core of naquadria the size of a shooter marble. If I ever remake my hyperdrive, I could make it an eighth the size. You could power a state out of a brief case."

That got both their attention.

"What do you want, and what are you offering?" asked Jack.

"The naquadria is too powerful for my ship, I need to overhaul the systems. I need the materials to do so, and I need some help doing it. In return, I will show my helper how to use the naquadria without blowing something up, and I'll give you a self-replicating sample."

"Self-replicating?" asked the Doctor.

"Naquadria makes more naquadria when it comes into contact with naquedah."

The Doctor turned to Jack. "Sir, the potential advantage this material could give us over the goa'uld far outweighs any risks that I would incur."

The man looked almost amused. "The decision is still up to the general." He turned to Harry. "What exactly do you need, and how long will it take?"

Harry pulled out a floppy disk and tossed it to the man. "It might take five days, a week. Everything I need is on that floppy. And thanks for the computer by the way; I never would have thought of asking for it. Oh, you'll also want to bring a- hasmat? Yeah, a hasmat suit. The naquadria gives off very harmful radiation."

"What about you?" asked Jack.

"I have a shield, and I retained my symbiote's healing abilities."

"That doesn't make any sense," said the Doctor.

"Apparently, it's magic," said Harry, giving a look to Jack.

With that, he beamed up to his ship and waited. It was almost half an hour later that the Stargate activated again, and his ship was hailed.

"Give us three days to get the materials ready."

"Okay, but no funny business."

Three days then, and Harry would be able to start his retrofit. He'd also have a companion for a short while.  
!!!!!

"Major, tell me about this naquadria."

Sam was again in the briefing room answering questions. "Well, sir, we don't know if the substance actually exists. I don't know if it could even occur naturally. Hypothetically though, if it does exist, I think it could do everything he promised."

"And be exactly as dangerous. Colonel, in your opinion, will the boy use the technology if we don't help him?"

"As I understand it, sir," said the Colonel, "he already has the technology. If we don't do this, he'll find another way to fix up his ship. He's doing his best to be independent, proposing a trade instead of asking for help. At the least, Sam might spot if he's going to do something he shouldn't."

"What is he asking for, exactly?"

Sam answered. "Ninety-six pounds of trinium, in fifty-two specific pieces, twelve pounds of high carbon steel, in twenty-one specific pieces. He also suggests that I bring a container capable of transporting highly radioactive substances."

"And what specifically could this do for us?"

"Well, sir, this is exactly the edge we need for the X-302 program. If it does what's promised, it could enable us to equip them with hyperspace window generators, maybe even shields. A couple years down the line, and we'd be able to power our own ships."

The general nodded. "Then you have a go, Major. Have the parts fabricated, and take anything with you that you might need."

"Yes sir."

"And remember, it is still our goal to have that boy come back to Earth."

!!!!!

Three days and four hours later, the gate activated again. This time, Doctor Carter came alone, with two RC transports tethered to one another. She led them to the ring platform, and Harry ringed down to help her.

"Hello Captain. I see your government has agreed."

"Harry, good to see you, and it's your government too, you know."

"I suppose." He eyed her weapons. "Do you guys go anywhere not armed to the teeth?"

"You've got a hand device and a zat."

"Fair enough, but no-"

"Funny business, got it."

Harry started levitating boxes onto the ring platform.

"Harry, how are you doing that, exactly?"

"Magic, remember?"

She smiled, "seriously though, what sort of technology is it?"

He shook his head, "no technology, just power. And you were rather obvious, by the way."

"Excuse me?"

"Making Oliver and David Copperfield the first two choices on that digital library. I get it, orphans who find loving family. I'm still not going back to Earth."

"It was worth a shot."

"I'll be right back," he said, and stepped onto the ring platform, going to the ship to clear the platform before returning to the Doctor. He repeated the process three more times before it was just himself and the Doctor ringing up. She had already sent the transports back through the gate.

"Do you have to check in at all?" he asked her.

"Every two days."

Harry thought about it and nodded. "That should work. I'm going to land on the other side of the planet. We'll have to work in stages, if we want to make those semi-daily phone calls."

"Why the other side of the planet?"

"It isn't populated, as best as I can tell. If something goes wrong, I'd rather not destroy a civilization."

"Makes sense. Should we go now then?"

"We're already there."

"Excuse me?"

"We've landed. Would you like to get started now?"

"When did we land?"

"Just now?"

"How, we were in orbit, you never touched a control."

Harry just smiled and beckoned her out to the control room. Indeed, the windows showed that the ship was landed. Harry held up his hand device. Harry had to admit, he got a guilty pleasure from flummoxing the woman.

"I have rather good control of the ship through this."

"How good?"

"Very good. Shall we get started, Doctor?"

She shook her head. "No time like the present, I suppose. And it's Major."

"I thought you were a Doctor."

"I am, but it's rank before salutation. The General didn't want you to be uneasy about meeting two soldiers, before."

"I see," said Harry, giving her a mini-glare before changing the subject. "Anyway, I suppose you'll want to examine the naquadria first?"

An hour later, Harry was wondering just which of the two of them was the child. The Major, Sam, was like a kid in a candy store, soaking in everything he told her. She had brought her own scanning equipment, and had examined the material herself, after donning the proper protection. After a while though, Harry was impatient to start on his ship's overhaul. He promised her another floppy with all of the documents he had written up on the material. Fortunately, she was looking forward to working with all of his systems. He explained what they were doing.

"The ships systems are capable of handling the energy I'll be feeding them. They can take a lot of energy, because goa'uld systems are prone to power surges, and they don't want their delicate systems to be fried. It's the power conduits that need work; they will fry if I try to put through the power I want to. Now, were I knowledgeable of the current goa'uld society, I would be able to acquire higher capacity conduits, but that is currently beyond me. What I want to do is shore them up; that's what the trinium is for, it doesn't channel the same energy that the crystals do, it reflects it. What I'm hoping is that it will help direct the energy more efficiently, and thus not overload the conduits."

"So then why don't the goa'uld do this as a matter of course?"

Harry shrugged. "The goa'uld are uncreative scavengers. They barely understand the technology they use. Sometimes they do innovate, like my personal shield, but mostly they just get by."

"And you?"

"It's a few things really."

"Oh?"

"I have the elastic mind of a nine-year-old, I have the combined knowledge of two goa'uld, and I can feel the technology I'm working with intimately. My power lets me be a part of everything in this ship."

By the gleam in her eye, Harry could tell that he shouldn't have brought up his power.  
!!!!!

The work went by like clockwork, though still slowed by the need for precision. They worked on non-essential systems first so that Sam could be taken to make her first and second check-in. The results of their work were promising, though Harry had yet to make the transition to naquadria.

Sam was the most inquisitive person that Harry had ever met. The only time she wasn't asking questions about goa'uld technology, naquadria, or his power was at meals. Like Sarah, she didn't talk business over meals. "Meals are precious," she had said, "when you actually get to sit down and eat, that's when you have time to relax." Of course, even meals didn't stop her from having 'Earth's nice,' conversations. Harry liked to think that it meant she cared.

Three days in, Harry had an idea when they ringed aboard. It was five o'clock in the morning by the planet's twenty-six hour day when Sam found him in the ring room. Over and over, the rings were coming up out of the floor, dematerializing and rematerializing a pen that Harry had placed in the middle. Harry was watching it with an almost vacant expression on his face.

"Harry," she said after a minute of watching this, "what are you doing?"

He looked up at her in surprise. He had been too unaware of his surroundings to hear her approach. "Oh. Hi."

"Good morning."

"I, um, I think I can do this." Harry had had the idea shortly after he had given up pacing in his room. He had been watching the rings for almost an hour.

A mental command stopped the rings. "I think that I can do what the rings do, without any technology."

She didn't say anything for a minute, puzzling out how he could do that. "I don't understand. Do you think you can act as a conduit for the energy?"

Harry gave a rare smile, and before she could object, he focused on the pen. He didn't quite know how the process worked as Isis hadn't understood the technology, but more importantly, his mind had been in the ring platform while it had been working, and he had pushed out his energy, his Force, to feel the energy that took apart, and reassembled mater. He could do this. With his mind, Harry directed his energy to break down the pen, and to shoot it to a point just in front of him. A line of energy joined the two points momentarily, before the pen popped back into existence in front of him.

Harry's smile turned into a grin. "I did it!" he cried, jumping up.

For a moment, Sam was too stunned to say anything. "Wow." She looked at Harry. "That's incredible. How did you…" She shook her head. "Holly Hanah, that's incredible."

Harry nodded. "I knew I could do it." He bent down to pick up the pen, examining it. "I think I could do myself."

Sam's eyes widened. "Wait, what? Harry-" But before she could object, Harry had already focused inward, filling himself with the energy. Sam could only watch, as he disappeared. A line of golden light appeared, connecting Harry's former position to a point on the other side of the room, where Harry appeared. Harry looked around himself, and ran his hands around his body as though making sure he was still whole.

"Yes! That was amazing!" He was actually jumping up and down, suddenly hyper from his success. He turned to Sam. "Did you see that? I transported myself."

Sam walked over to him, looking at Harry as though she were trying to make sure that he was whole herself, and that he wasn't just going to fall down dead. Assured that he was whole, she addressed him. "Harry, that was incredible. But you can't just do that."

Harry wasn't quite sure what she was talking about. "But I just did."

She shook her head. "That's not what I mean. I mean don't do that, again."

"But why not, it works."

"No, don't try something dangerous like that again, without making sure that you won't get hurt. Harry, what if you hadn't been able to rematerialize yourself. I mean, really, it should have been impossible. How could you direct yourself while you weren't anything but energy?" Her eyes drifted upward, the way they did when she was pondering something. "I suppose you may have just answered the mind/brain question, but still. You could have died trying that."

Harry was a little confused. "But I didn't die." Why was she making a big deal out of this, he was fine. He was better than fine.

She shook her. "That's hardly the point. You can't just jump into something like that. I'm sure that you thought things through, and you realized, somehow, that you'd be able to follow the transportation through, but you couldn't have really known it. Harry terrible things happen to even the most brilliant of scientists when they cut corners and take unnecessary risks. I don't want that to happen to you too."

Harry wasn't feeling so great anymore. "But I'm really okay, I knew that I could keep my mind independent of my body." He protested, though he knew that she was right.

She shook her head and said, "You treat regular technology and your power differently, but you shouldn't."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you planned everything out for you ships retro-fit. You wrote the code in advance, you're taking precautions with the naquadria, and you're letting me check your calculations and theories. You're playing it safe. You need to do that when you try new things with your power. I understand that some of these things come to you instinctually, but Harry, you just disassembled yourself. Please, take more caution when doing something like that. Think it out; write it out. Talk to someone else about it. I'd really rather you didn't die, Harry."

Here Harry became embarrassed. "I'm sorry, I know you need me to get back to the stargate."

Sam rolled her eyes. "I also happen to like you, Harry, and I'd rather you outlive me."

Harry looked up in surprise. "Oh. Er, thanks."

She shook her head. "Come on, lets get something to eat, and then maybe you can tell me about what you just did."

"Okay Sam."  
!!!!!

As the days wore on, Sam became more confrontational in her efforts to talk Harry into going back to Earth. Finally, she asked him a question as they worked on an exterior power conduit.

"Harry, exactly what are you going to do when we're done?"

He shrugged. "You'll go back to Earth with the naquadria, I'll go my own way."

"I mean after that. You keep on saying that you can't go to Earth, that there's nowhere that you fit in there. But where do you fit here?"

Harry grimaced. "I never said that I fit here. I just fit better out here. On Earth, I'm not a kid, I'm not an adult, so what business do I have living among any of them."

"Don't say that Harry. Maybe you can't be easily classified, but there's still a kid in you, I've seen it."

He scoffed. "What kid has killed, what kid can reign destruction on the people around him without trying?"

"They exist, Harry," she said quietly, "maybe not where we come from, but in Africa, South America, there are child soldiers. It's a blight on our world, but it happens. They aren't given a choice, and they are forced to do terrible things. And sometimes they're rescued, sometimes they get to heal and have real lives. And no, they're not really kids anymore, not completely. But it's still a part of them, and it's still a part of you."

"I- I know that, Sam. But I'm still stuck in the middle. Besides, you want to know what I'm going to do now? I'm going to be a scourge on the goa'uld. They've had their hold on this galaxy for far too long, and I'm going to do what I can to tear them down."

"All on your own?"

"I've always been alone," he said defensively.

"So what am I doing here?"

"I needed a little help fixing up my ship."

"You could have done all of this on your own, Harry. All you really needed were the pieces."

Harry sighed. "Yeah, okay, it's been nice having you here. I liked having someone to talk to." He stopped and considered her. "You know," he said, "you could come with me."

"With you?"

"Yeah, send the naquadria and your notes through the gate, and travel with me. We could discover so much together."

She smiled at him. "I wish I could, Harry. I mean, that's really sweet of you, if I could split myself in two and send one to Earth and keep one with you, I'd do it. But I'd do more good on Earth."

"It was just a though."

"A nice one. You could come to Earth with me. Be that scourge from Earth, work with us to fight the goa'uld."

He smiled wide. "I spent a month in space, and gave you a scientific breakthrough. Just wait until I get back out there, you'll be seeing me around, Sam. I won't just forget Earth."

"I hope I see you again."  
!!!!!

Sam left the next day. Harry had turned on the naquadria reactor in orbit, and everything worked as he hoped. She kissed him on the cheek before ringing down to the stargate. Over the years to come, Harry would remember the days he spent with her as some of the best he had ever had. They were also the calm before the storm.


	3. 03 Enemies

Enemies

For a while, Harry did nothing. He was alone again, and he really didn't know what to do. He traveled back to Calaissis and spent time on the surface. He played with his 'magic' and pondered on ideas for what his next course of action should be. He wiled away a week that way.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Harry eventually decided that he needed some friends, enemies of the goa'uld. The problem was finding such people. Harry brainstormed ideas on how to contact anyone who was actively fighting the goa'uld. Sending out a signal would alert the goa'uld. Searching blindly would take too long. Ironically, the only people he knew to be actively fighting the goa'uld didn't want him fighting himself. As best Harry could tell, that left one source to find enemies of the goa'uld, the goa'uld themselves. His one dangerous option was to get access to a modern goa'uld computer terminal, with the hopes of stealing the information he wanted.

Now of course, he needed to find a poorly guarded computer terminal. He compiled a list of planets that were of minor strategic strength (eight thousand years ago) and traveled to them one by one. His plan was much like the one that he had used at Thanos' planet; he jumped into the system, scanned the planet, and jumped away again, before going over the sensor data. The first three planets had no signs of active technology, and the next was heavily fortified. Harry quite likely could have gotten some rather good information there, but he didn't fancy going up against a modern stronghold in his first mission against the goa'uld. Number five was exactly what he wanted though, a small outpost, probably belonging to a minor goa'uld. Harry jumped back to the planet, coming out behind one of the planet's moons. He edged the ship out far enough to get images from the planet's surface.

There was a ring platform near the stargate, but his sensors also detected one within the compound. That one was protected though; it would remotely activate only for certain other ring platforms. That meant that Harry would have to ring down outside. Fortunately though, there was no shield around the compound. He took note of all Jaffa placements on the outside. He got a close-up on one of the Jaffa's foreheads, but he didn't recognize the mark.

He made a plan, and then donned Isis' most ornate robe. Assuming his most arrogant posture, he ringed down to the planet.

"**Jaffa,**" he spoke with a goa'uld's voice, and let his eyes flash. "**What is the name of your god?**"

The nearest Jaffa bowed his head. "**We serve benevolent Harachte. I ask what business you have.**"

The god of the horizon, he had probably once been in the service of Ra, before O'Neill killed him. "**And who does he serve?" **

"**That name is not said.**"

"**Very well, you may tell your master that I have a proposition for him. I will return here tomorrow at the same time, if he wishes to speak to me." **Harry activated the rings, but before they could claim him, he dematerialized himself, shooting himself opposite the Jaffa, using the rings to hide his exit. He reappeared in the forest, and then made his way to a position where he could see the compound's entrance. Unlike when he had camped on Calaissis, this planets terrain was rough and hazardous. Harry found himself going very slowly to avoid both detection and injury. Eventually, he angled himself so that he could shoot behind the Jaffa guarding the entrance. The need for line of sight was a hassle.

As quietly as he could, Harry stole into the compound. For a while he snuck around, before realizing that without any cover, it did him no good. Thinking quickly, he assumed an air that said he belonged there and knew exactly where he was going (he hoped that that was what it looked like). Before he reached the computer terminal he was looking for, he passed two Jaffa, who stared at him, but did not try to stop him. There were two guards in front of the computer access room that Harry was looking for.

"**Jaffa Cree!**" he said, and both snapped to attention. Harry shot both of them with his zat. He walked into the room, levitating them behind him as he did. He locked the door behind him.

The computer was password encrypted, but Harry had expected that. Placing his hand on the terminal, he pushed his magic and his mind into the machine, bypassing the security. He inserted a crystal into the terminal, and began downloading all of the information that he could. He noticed a problem half way through, at least a quarter of the information was in a language Harry recognized, but couldn't translate. It was the language of the gate builders, those that had come before. Shrugging, he continued the download. Either he'd find a way to translate it, or he wouldn't.

A couple of minutes later the download was complete, and Harry walked out of the room. A loud voice called out to him from behind.

"**Halt!**"

Harry stopped and put up his hands. Apparently his presence in the computer system had been detected. Closing his eyes Harry dematerialized, shot himself down the corridor, and jumped around the corner. In this way, he made his way through the compound to the entrance. Fixing his eyes on the field where the ring platform lay, Harry shot himself forward, only to find his way blocked by a shield not far from the entrance. Cursing, he shot himself away from the Jaffa guarding the door. With the brief amount of time left to him, Harry pushed his energy into the shield, hoping to disrupt it temporarily. It felt as though a blow had struck him in the head, he sat down abruptly. Shaking his head, he realized that he needed a different plan. He couldn't stay outside trying to bypass the shield.

Eyeing a ventilation grille, Harry peered through. He was in luck, there was a source of light at the end. He used magic to rend back the grilles on both ends, and then shot himself through. Back in the base, he decided to find the second ring platform. He would be able to ring up from within. As he shot himself along the corridors, Harry felt the effort required become greater every time. After a while, he was forced to start running. He found the ring platform heavily guarded. Through his hand device, Harry called his ship out from behind the moon. Using the last of his energy, Harry made two jumps into the room. He quickly punched in the proper command before diving onto the ring platform, and being whisked away. He had the ship jump to hyperdrive, and wearily made his way to the command room.

He plugged the crystal into the control panel, and began copying the data to his ship's computer. Twenty minutes later, he came out of hyperspace around Oberdad, waking out of a light doze. Stretching, he got out of the chair and grabbed the crystal. He went to the dining area and picked up a granola bar, before going to the ring room and ringing down to the planet. He dialed Earth, and left the crystal on the DHD before ringing back to his ship.

"SGC, this is Harry. I've left a crystal on the DHD. It's data from the computer of the goa'uld Harachte."

"This is Sergeant Harriman, is there anyone you wanted to talk to?"

"No, but if any of you know the language of the gate-builders, there is a section of the data that is written in it. I would appreciate the translation."

"I can't make any promises."

"Yeah. Anyway, I'll come back some time."

He let the transmission end, but he didn't move his position. He decided that it was time to get some real sleep, and went to his room. As he drifted to sleep, he decided that he needed to figure out a more versatile mode of teleportation. Some other time, he decided.

!!!!!

Really, Harry pondered, there's been an appreciable change in the goa'uld dialect since Isis and Osiris had been captured. Fortunately, it was a surprisingly small one. It was a little awkward, but Harry had no difficulty in reading the files from Harachte's computer. After a couple days of going through the data, he had found that the goa'uld had many enemies, though most of them were other goa'uld. This included a surprising faction called the Tok'ra, who seemed to take only willing hosts. Harry wasn't quite willing to deal with them yet. Other than them, there was of course the Asgard. Apparently, there was a treaty with them now. Their file included a picture of what was basically a Grey, surprisingly enough. Isis had never seen one before though the goa'uld had been aware of them several thousand years ago. There was a small resistance of Jaffa, interestingly. From humans there was little resistance. Notably, there were those from Earth, which was protected by the Asgard. There were three other worlds that the goa'uld considered a threat, chief among them Tollana. Apparently, they were practically pacifists, which meant that they would hopefully not shoot on sight. Apparently the most approachable, Harry set a course for Tollana. It was clear across the galaxy, and would take most of the day to travel to. He hesitated before engaging the hyperdrive, though. He still wasn't sure that he wanted to do this; all he really knew about these people was that they were enemies of the goa'uld. What if they took his ship, or tried to send him back to Earth? He dithered over the decision, before starting up his engines. He had to start somewhere, so he'd have to take the chance.

As he traveled, Harry pondered the quandary of his teleportation problem. It wasn't that he was ungrateful for the ability to teleport; all ready it had come in very handy. But it was so limited. He had only been able to transport to a line of sight, he couldn't transport through shields, and he estimated a limit of about sixty miles, enough to get him out of a planet's atmosphere, a low orbit, but not to a moon. He recalled the incident in primary school, where he had appeared on the school roof. Of course, it made more sense now, but notably, there had been no line of sight. That being said, he couldn't remember at all how he had done it. He came up with a few ideas, most of which he binned. Like Sam had said, he shouldn't try something that could end up killing him. Accelerating his particles to near light speed, turning himself into energy, and copying himself, didn't seem like bright ideas.

Resolving to think more on it later, Harry made himself some macaroni and cheese, and set about filling the time of his voyage. He worked out, read, and spent more time going through the stolen data. Frustratingly, Harry could tell that a lot of really good data was hidden behind the dead language of the gate builders. He had to wonder who would choose the language to write their files in, as no goa'uld had even translated it in Isis' time.

Two minutes away from Tollana, Harry was alerted that the journey was near its end. He went to the command room and waited, going over in his head what he would say to the Tollans. The words, "don't shoot," came to mind. Dropping out of hyperspace, Harry was unprepared for what he saw. There was a massive battle underway. A goa'uld mothership, three al'kesh, and two squadrons of death gliders were waging war against the supposedly mighty Tollans, and apparently winning. There were numerous gargantuan ships that seemed to be trying to flee the planet. Making a fast decision, Harry broadcast to the Tollan ships.

"Fleeing vessels, focus your fire on the death gliders and al'kesh. I will destroy the mothership." Or distract it at least.

Harry opened fire on the mothership, which was still taking fire from the surface. An al'kesh moved to intercept him, but it's shields buckled when it came between the two ships. As it was destroyed, Harry realized that it contained the first people he had ever killed himself (non-goa'uld people, anyway). He continued firing on the mothership, and started taking fire. His ship was small though, and dodged much of the mothership's volleys. A number of death gliders started firing at him, and Harry's ship started to shake with each blast, as there were now too many opponents to dodge and fire upon at the same time. His ship didn't have the swiveling turrets of the al'kesh, or the maneuverability of the death gliders.

The fleeing ships were easily handling death gliders, but the al'kesh were too powerful for them. Already, three of the vessels had been destroyed while he was fighting, and Harry could tell that many more already had been. Harry decided to extend his attention to the al'kesh, as he still dodged fire from the mother ship. He came into range of one al'kesh, and opened fire, destroying it quickly. As he did though, the other al'kesh was able to take several clean shots at him. His ship shook violently as they did. With a large blast, he lost his weapons and hyperdrive, as well as various other non-important systems. Knowing his ship wouldn't last much longer, he did the only thing he could.

Harry hailed the Tollan ships. "My ship will soon be destroyed, I hope to take out the mothership with me. I will attempt to board the remaining al'kesh." He ended the transmission. Working quickly, he flew his ship at the mothership and set his engines to explode on impact. He removed the ship's data crystal, and summoned the storage box that held the naquadria. Focusing on the al'kesh's position, Harry willed his crazy idea to work. Harry activated his personal shield as he dematerialized himself, and simultaneously opened a micro-window into subspace. He disappeared moments before his unnamed ship hit the mothership.

All those who witnessed the explosion would later agree that it was quite impressive. The shields of the ancient goa'uld ship buckled less than a second before it's naquadria reactor exploded. The energy lashed against the mothership's shields for milliseconds before they too were pierced, and a lance of energy tore into the ship. The ship started drifting, stopped shooting, and for a moment, it was as though the ship had died. Soon though, fiery eruptions started spreading on the ship, before the whole ship exploded. The death gliders around it had no chance. Most of the larger ships were far enough away to survive the blast though.

Aboard the al'kesh, Harry found himself remarkably whole, and alone in the cargo area. He set down his naquadria and drew his zat. He made his way to the ship's bridge, where the Jaffa were quite unexpecting. He shot two in the back, and took a zat blast to his shield from a third before he shot the man. A Jaffa ran into the room with a staff weapon, and Harry tore it from his arms with a gesture, before shooting him as well. No one else came in, and Harry hoped that that meant that he was now the only conscious person on board.

He assumed the controls and assessed the situation. The roughly twenty now stranded death gliders were fighting to their last, and continued to attack the fleeing vessels. Two had so far managed to leave their planet's atmosphere, and Harry could make out a further nine making their way out. He hailed them.

"Tollan vessels, I have taken control of the al'kesh."

He started firing on the death gliders, and with the Tollan vessels, now five in orbit, they were quickly destroyed.

!!!!!

In the SGC control room, a dejected group listened to what seemed to be the last words of Narim.

"It isn't good at all… the stargate destroyed…"

Another voice was heard in the background. It was familiar to Jack and Sam.

"Fleeing vessels, … fire on the death gliders and al'kesh. … destroy the mothership."

"Oh my God," said Sam. "That's Harry."

"What the hell is he doing there?" asked the General.

"He said that he wanted to strike back against the goa'uld," said Sam.

Narim's voice came back. "…ship…joined us … destroyed an al'kesh…"

For a while, there was nothing but static. Again, Harry's voice was heard.

"My ship … destroyed, … take out the mothership with me … board the remaining al'kesh."

"Not again," whispered Jack, thinking of his son Charlie.

Narim's voice came back. "… ships destroyed … mothership … no sign… al'kesh…"

They waited for further news with baited breath. Minutes passed by and static filled their ears. Finally they heard what they were hoping for, Harry's voice.

"Tollan vessels, I… the al'kesh."

There was a collective sigh of relief. Again there was silence, and this time there was no static; the transmission had been shut off.

The signal came back, this time clear of the distortions caused by weapons fire.

"Major Carter, members of the SGC, we are saved. As I understand it, it is a citizen of your world who has come to our rescue. Eleven of our ships have escaped, roughly- a third of our population. We must go now, our home is gone, and we must seek refuge before more ships arrive. I will contact you when we are settled. I wished to apologize, on the behalf of my people, for the treason of our government."

The transmission ended, and Sam decided right there to work on the subspace communications project. Next time, she wanted to be able to respond.

The General spoke up. "Did Harry Potter just destroy an advanced goa'uld mothership?"

"That's what it sounded like, sir," said Sam.

"I don't understand, the Tollan weapons were useless against its shields."

"He said that his ship was about to be destroyed, it's possible that he set the explosion of the reactor to be as large as possible.

He shook his head. "Seven months ago, he was just a nine-year-old boy going to school. Why is he determined to fight a war?"

"It could be revenge," said Jack, "Isis and Osiris may be dead, but he's still furious with the goa'uld. It might be that this is all him trying to find a place in the galaxy. The galaxy is in a state of war, and he figures he has to be a part of it. Maybe he feels it's his responsibility because he has power. It's hard to say, I guess."

"This situation remains one of the most bizarre this program has had to deal with," said the General. He changed the subject. "Doctor Jackson, how are you doing with that translation?"

"It's slow work. That is, it's not too much of a challenge, but there is a lot of data. As best as I can tell, the sections in ancient contain tactical and technological data. I'm still going through the first file, I'll forward it to Sam when it's finished."

"Very well."

"Sir," said Sam, "are we going to share the translation with Harry?"

"I haven't decided yet. We are stuck between treating him as a nine-year-old citizen, and an off-world ally."

"Either way, sir, we want him to trust us," said Sam. "I think that sharing the data would work towards that end."

"I've considered that, Major, but I have to wonder what he would do with the information."

"In light of his recent victory," said Teal'c, "we might expect it to be something equally good."

"We can only hope," said the General.

"We can only hope he survives again," said Jack.

!!!!!

Aboard the al'kesh, Harry disarmed the Jaffa and locked them inside one of the living quarters. He went back to the control room and hailed the fleet of Tollan ships, requesting a visual dialogue. A man's face appeared before him. The man bowed his head.

"My name is Narim, I currently speak for the Tollans. On their behalf, I extend our deepest thanks; you have saved us from extinction."

"My name is Harry, and I come from a planet called Earth."

"Harry, I would continue this conversation, but we all must flee; we can expect more goa'uld to arrive."

Harry' sensors alerted him as small explosions peppered the planet's surface.

"We are destroying all vestiges of our technology on our planet. It would not do for them to be discovered by others."

Harry nodded in understanding. "I came all this way to speak to your people, may I join you on your journey?"

"Of course, we can use any aid we can get at this moment."

The coordinates they were going to were forwarded to his ship. The Tollan ships began to jump into hyperspace, some of them being towed by others. Harry followed them. Their ships were faster than his al'kesh though; Harry would arrive the next day, a few hours behind them. The navigational computer didn't recognize the planet as having a stargate.

Harry delved into the ship's system, first linking his hand device to it. He searched for, found, and destroyed the anti-theft programming. The software was rather drastic; it would have set the ship to self-destruct if it didn't receive a subspace code every fourteen hours. Fortunately, there was no tracking device giving off his position. He searched through the ship's systems, finding it refreshing to search through something so advanced. Many of the inefficiencies of his old ship were solved in this ship. The shields and weapons obviously had had a recent advancement, because the information he had gathered on the Tollans said that they normally could have defeated goa'uld ships quite easily. Harry would have spent hours exploring the new technology, but his growling stomach begged his attention.

He found the ship's stores, and discovered that Jaffa field rations were nearly inedible. He forced some down, and chased with some water. Deciding to take pity on his Jaffa prisoners, he stood at the end of their hall, opened their door, and levitated in some food and water for them. He was undecided to whether he wanted to speak to any of them. Perhaps he'd give them to the Tollans, let them take care of the prisoners. Harry went to the cargo area and retrieved his naquadria. He wanted to start on a new naquadria drive for his new ship. He had formed a core by the time he reached the coordinates he was given.

The eleven ships had all ready landed on the planets surface below, and Harry's sensors showed that work was underway. Structures were being put up, small craft were flying around the surface, satellites had been placed in orbit, and Harry could even detect a few weapons platforms dispersed around the planet. He hailed the ship he had communicated with earlier, and was answered by a young man.

"My name is Harry, I was given the coordinates to come here. I was hoping to speak to Narim, please."

"Sir," the man replied, and Harry raised his eyebrows at the salutation, "I will patch you through."

The man's image disappeared, and moments later Narim's replaced it.

"Greetings again, Captain," the man said. "What can I do for you?"

"I was hoping that we could speak together about our common enemy."

"Soon, we will be able to speak. Currently though, there is much confusion, and I seem to be in the middle of everything. In the mean time, have you any injuries, or other problems that need to be dealt with?"

"I'm fine, I do have a few Jaffa prisoners though. I was hoping that you might have some idea of what I could do with them."

"If you wish, I could arrange to have them taken into our custody. No harm will come to them from us."

Harry nodded, "Thanks."

"I will have someone contact you to make arrangements. In the meantime, you may land at these coordinates."

Their conversation ended, Harry set down in a large grassy field that he was directed to, miles away from any of the developing areas. A few minutes later, a large hovercraft came zooming towards his position; it hailed him.

"Captain, sir, my name is Second Rank Orrens, I was informed that you had prisoners that you needed to have transported."

"That's right. I have no restraints, so I'll deliver them unconscious."

"Very well, captain."

"Um, my name is Harry Potter, by the way."

The man nodded. "Captain Potter, then. I've landed just next to you."

Harry chose not to argue the point. "I'll see you shortly then."

He went to the Jaffa's room and opened the door, before shooting each Jaffa in turn with his zat. He levitated them behind him, and made his way to the ring platform. The man he had spoken to was there with two others. None of them remarked on the levitation, past looking curious. The other two men went past him and began scanning and securing the prisoners. Orrens extended his hand.

"Your people shake hands?" he asked.

"That's right," said Harry, shaking the man's large hand. "You've met people from Earth?"

"Oh, not personally. But officers are taught the basic customs of our allies," he said. Harry thought that the man's voice had changed when he referred to Earth as an ally. He hoped that the Tollan's relationship with Earth wouldn't get in the way of things. "Captain, I've been directed to request that you ascent to a scan. Your use of goa'uld technology is worrisome to our leaders."

"You may scan me," said Harry. "I used to be a host to a goa'uld." The man had already pulled out a scanner.

The officer smiled as he scanned him. "That would explain things. It caused some confusion when you broadcast your face to us." He slipped the scanner back into a belt pouch. The two other men had all ready loaded the prisoners into the transport and remained with them. "I was also directed to ask if you have any needs that we can meet, seeing as you have just acquired this ship."

"Well I don't know what you can spare. I'm going to want to refit this ship, and that will require some materials that I don't have, mostly trinium, but also food and clothes. I'm afraid that all I have are Jaffa rations and what I'm wearing now."

"I see. I'll pass that on. Do you know yet what exactly you need for your ship?"

"No, I still need to work that out. I'm used to working with much older technology."

The officer nodded. "Just forward what you need when you can. We'll send you some food and clothes soon, but I'm afraid that we'll have to put off any formal meetings for a while. It will take us a couple of days to settle in."

"That's okay, I can wait. I'll be happy with just some decent food to eat, planning the refit should keep me occupied."

"In that case, Captain, I'll be on my way. Good day.

"Good day."

The officer boarded his craft and zoomed away. Half an hour later, another craft came with his food and clothes. There was a lot of fresh produce, and not one bit of meat. The comfortable clothes ranged from formal, to rugged, to casual, and to mechanics garb. Obviously, the scanner had reported more than whether or not he was a goa'uld, because everything fit quite well. Harry began work, mapping out power conduits, and designing a new reactor. He could have used the one currently in place, but with such a big ship, he figured that he should maximize the output of the naquadria. The work was far more challenging this time, because some of the technology rather was beyond him at the moment. He was only able to manage was because he could put himself inside the systems. He forwarded the list of what he would need to the Tollans, and spent the next day exploring the systems. Grounded as he was, he couldn't run them, and manipulate them, but he was able to tweak them in some ways where he felt they could do things more efficiently.

That evening, he got his materials and more. The officer who delivered everything explained that they had taken the liberty of putting his reactor together, though they of course didn't know what would be powering it. He was also extended an invitation to a formal meeting the next morning with their new leader, who happened to be Narim. He had the title of High Chancellor.

Harry's nights were once more filled with nightmares. He dreamed of fire, and screams he had never heard. Both mornings though, he woke up, and life went on. It was as though he led two lives: dark nights, and empty days.

Harry put off putting in the new reactor for the later, he'd need help with it anyway, if he didn't want to be powerless for an extended period of time. The next morning, a transport arrived to pick him up. Harry had dressed in the formal clothes he had been given. The ride to the nearest city was almost silent, the young man driving the vehicle seemed almost afraid of him. Part way into the city, they stopped, and Harry was escorted to a transport pad, which took him half way across the world. Harry found himself outside a large building. He marveled at the speed with which the Tollans had started developing their new world.

As he entered the building, he felt an energy field deactivate the offensive functions of his hand device. He looked up to his escort.

"I'm sorry, captain, but no one is allowed to visit this place armed."

"That's all right, but I would appreciate warning in the future."

The man nodded and they were on their way. The building was mostly unfurnished, and Harry supposed it was a little much to expect them to have all ready hung paintings on the walls. Finally, he was taken to a large conference room where Narim greeted him.

"Captain Potter," the man greeted him. "My condolences for the many lives you were forced to take. Again, I give you the sincerest thanks of my people."

"Oh, I just responded to the situation. I give you my thanks as well, for your hospitality, and for the reactor."

A voice reached them from the other side of the room. "Him you give technology to."

They looked over to see Jack O'Neill with Sam, Daniel Jackson, and a man Harry supposed was Teal'c from Sam's description.

Narim answered him. "Captain Potter designed the reactor, we merely fabricated it for him as a courtesy."

'Captain?' Sam mouthed at him, and Harry could only shrug.

Narim turned to Harry again. "It is my understanding that they wish to bring you back with them to Earth. However, as I've all ready explained to them, you are currently recognized as an independent ally, and, as such, immune to such actions while you are here."

"Oh, thanks," said Harry. "But the best that they could do anyway is try to talk me into it."

Narim introduced him to a couple other members of the Tollan governing council. Before their meeting could begin, Harry spoke to Sam and the rest of her team. Sam surprised him by giving him a tight hug.

"Oh, Harry, we were so worried about you. When your ship exploded, we though you were dead for sure."

"They told you my ship exploded without telling you I survived?"

"No, Narim was transmitting to us as the battle went on, we heard you over his speakers. It came as quite a shock to us. What were you doing there in the first place?"

Harry shrugged. "Hoping to make friends with an enemy of the goa'uld."

"Hey, we're enemies of the goa'uld," said Jack.

"Enemies that don't want to give me a bed time," responded Harry.

The colonel brought them back on subject. "We were also wondering," he said, "how you managed to acquire that data."

"Er, just a little stealthy raid on a minor goa'uld."

"Jeez, kid, what exactly are you trying to accomplish here?"

"Hey, I needed information, and I needed someone to call 'friend'. The rest just worked out like it did. Now I have a new ship that will be even more formidable when I fix it up."

"Harry," said Sam, "we just don't want you to get hurt."

"Half the time you guys go through the gate, you see children who are in constant danger, and you have to live with it. I may be taking it to another level, but I can take care of myself. Now, we can talk more later, I think we should get started with this meeting."

They all took seats, and Narim spoke up.

"On behalf of the Tollan people, I extend greetings to everyone here. To Captain Potter, our thanks, and to the people of Earth, our most humble apologies. Before we get into the main purpose of this meeting, I was hoping to hear from you Captain Potter. What was your purpose in coming to Tollana in the first place?"

"I was coming to test the waters. I wanted to know if I could find a friend in your people, perhaps exchange technology."

Narim nodded. "A few days ago, you likely would have been politely rebuffed. However, in light of recent events, we must consider ourselves for the first time, at war with the goa'uld. We have only ever acted to defend ourselves, but I am afraid that that is no longer possible. We are relatively safe here, the goa'uld do not know the location of this world, but we can no longer rely on our technology to protect us, should we be discovered. As much as it pains us, we feel we must take an active role in ensuring the destruction of the goa'uld system lords."

"If you are hiding here," said Harry, "and you didn't know if I could be trusted, why did you lead me here?"

"I must admit, we had a small craft follow you, ready to block any transmissions."

Harry blinked. "I didn't detect anything."

Narim smiled. "You wouldn't have."

"Talking more about this active role of yours," said Jack, "does it include you changing your minds about sharing technology with us?"

"To a degree," Narim replied. "Many of our concerns about sharing technology are still valid, however, you are obviously not as protected by the Asgard treaty as one would hope." He motioned to an aide who brought him a wooden box. Narim pulled out a black device, which looked like nothing more than a black polished curved brick. "Affix this device to your stargate, and phase shifting technology will not be able to bypass your stargate. It pains me that you could need such a device, but I cannot allow our technology to be used against you in the future. We will also grant you the use of our weapon disarming technology, and a scanner. I'm afraid that none of these can be reverse engineered by you, nor will they work without proximity to your stargate."

"We understand," said Daniel, "you only want them to be used against attack from the stargate."

Narim nodded.

"What about attack from space?" asked Jack.

"Recognizing that the Asgard may not always be able to help you, we have decided to loan you two new weapons satellite platforms that we are currently developing. Tanith's plan to use our phase shifting technology against you has given us the unfortunate concept. We are creating drones that can be launched from these platforms, which will be able to pierce the shield of any attacking goa'uld ship."

"And if this unnamed goa'uld finds a way to counter this weapon as well?"

"That is always a possibility," answered Narim, "though for now, we can only hope that it would never happen."

"I might be able to help there," said Harry. "What manner of defense did you formerly employ?"

"We used ion cannons, the technology is likely beyond you."

"Probably," said Harry, "but did you use naquedah as a power base?"

"We did."

"I have a rare element, called naquadria, which can greatly enhance power output. It gave me a significant advantage in the battle over your former home world."

"You would share this technology with us?"

Harry grinned. "How reciprocal would this sharing be?"

!!!!!

"I've seen nine-year-olds bargain," said Jack, "but I've never seen one get an ion cannon out of it."

Harry was walking with SG-1 on the grassy field next to the Tollan capitol building.

"The Tollans recognize me as a powerful friend and ally against the goa'uld. They figured that if I'm going to be fighting in battles, perhaps by their side, then I should have every advantage. And talking about allies and advantages, I don't suppose you've managed to translate that data I sent you?"

Daniel spoke up. "I've made some headway, and before you ask, yes, I can give you the translation. I've only gotten through one file; it lists assets on the few planets that this goa'uld possesses. Whoever he is, he obviously isn't a system lord." He handed Harry a crystal, and Harry pocketed it.

Harry turned to Sam. "So, I figured that since we work so well together, I might let you help me. You've never worked on an al'kesh before, have you?"

She smiled at him. "And what might you want in return?"

"Another computer, and more food. Mac and cheese, and some meet. The Tollans gave me produce and bread. I'm a growing boy, I need more than that."

"We'll see what we can do," said Sam.

Harry shuffled his feet for a moment. "Sam, could I talk to you alone for a minute?"

"Sure," she said, and turned to the rest of the group. "I'll see you later."

The two walked away.

"Sam," said Harry. "You blew up a sun once."

"Yeah," said Sam, a little taken by surprise.

"It blew up a fleet of motherships, killing thousands."

Sam looked at him morosely. "You can still come home, Harry."

He just smiled at her, sadly. "I didn't like destroying that mothership, but I know that I did the right thing. But they still weren't all evil, were they?"

"No, they weren't."

"But they all still had to die."

"Harry, this is what it means to be a soldier. Defending the innocent doesn't always mean fighting evil, sometimes it means fighting good people, who serve a bad cause. Narim gave his condolences for the people you killed, and he was right to. It takes a toll on us, to kill people, and it should. It's okay to empathize with the soldiers you fight, but you can't let it eat at you. You'll destroy yourself like that."

"What if I don't feel anything?"

"Nothing?"

"Well, I've dreamt about it. I dreamt that I was on the ha'tak, and there was fire everywhere. It was awful. But now, it's just- I'm numb. I don't know what to feel, what to think. I wish I felt bad about it, I really do, but I can't. What does that make me?"

Sam put a hand on his head, and Harry was relieved to see that she wasn't condemning him. "It means you're still in shock, Harry. It will go away, and you will feel about this. Let yourself mourn for what happened, and move on."

Harry hugged her then. It was the first embrace he had ever initiated. "Will you be here?"

"I'll be here, Harry."


	4. 04 Deliverance

Deliverance

It was Teal'c who asked him what he would call his new ship. Harry was walking with them back to the Stargate as they were taking their newest acquisitions back to Earth.

"I guess I never really thought about it," said Harry.

"Well what did you name the other ship?" asked Daniel.

"I never gave it one."

"You never gave it one?" The question was asked as though the mere concept of not naming a ship was outrageous.

Harry shrugged. "It never really occurred to me; I mean, it never came up. It was just my ship."

"Well that won't do," said Jack. "You need to give a ship a name."

"Okay, fine. What should I call it then?"

"It is your ship," said Teal'c.

Sam piped up. "You could name it after someone."

Harry couldn't think of anyone he'd want to name a ship after.

"It should reflect your character, Harry," said Daniel. "To name your vessel is to name yourself. It's common for warriors to name their horses after fallen heroes, for noblewomen to name theirs after a prized virtue. You should think of what you want to represent."

Harry quirked his lips. "Maybe something in goa'uld."

"Such as?" asked Jack.

"Tar'Chell."

"Is that the name of some long dead fighter?" asked Jack.

"Human kid," Daniel translated. "You want the goa'uld you fight to say: oh no, oh no, the human kid is here."

"It's ironic and apt," said Harry. He would show the goa'uld exactly what a little human boy could do.

They reached the clearing that the Stargate had been erected in. Daniel dialed the gate, and sent through his code.

"Well Harry," said Jack. "I don't suppose we could tempt you with a tour of the SGC?"

"I think I'll pass," said Harry.

"Well, maybe some other time," replied the man.

"I should be seeing you soon. I'm sure our government will be thrilled to have me retrofit an Al'kesh."

"Don't forget to bring meat," said Harry. "And dairy. I can only go so long on nuts and berries."

Sam rolled her eyes at Harry's description of the Tollan's veritably vegan diet. "You'll be feasting on Kraft dinner soon enough, Harry."

"Well I should hope so," he replied.

He bid them all farewell and Daniel, Jack and Sam walked through. Teal'c waited though.

"Harry Potter," he said, and at Harry's nod he continued. "Do you know if any ships escaped the ha'tak during the battle?"

Harry shook his head. "I don't think so. I went over the sensor data after the battle; nothing was picked up. Why?"

"I had sworn to see the goa'uld Tanith dead. With his death during the battle, I am free of that duty. I am glad that the one to cause his death is an ally against the goa'uld." The man bowed his head. "Until we meet again, Harry Potter."

Harry inclined his head to the man, curious as to what would have caused him to swear revenge upon that particular goa'uld. Teal'c stepped though the gate, leaving Harry alone in the seemingly empty clearing. He supposed that there were numerable hidden defenses, but none that he could detect. Closing his eyes, and erecting his shield, Harry dematerialized himself as he opened a hyperspace window to the storeroom of the Tar'Chell, which rested on the other side of the continent the capitol was situated in.

!!!!!

The next day, Sam showed up with the promised materials, and a Tollan scientist. The man, Olan, brought with him a modified ion cannon, which was to be mounted on the ships hull. Harry gave him a sizeable sample of naquadria, as well as a data crystal containing all of his notes on the material. From what little contact Harry had with the man, it seemed as though he had no personality. Harry was content to allow the man to install the cannon while he and Sam worked elsewhere.

"So," he said to Sam. "I suppose this will take longer than the last time. How long do I have you for?"

"A week, again. Of course, my superiors are happy for me to get more experience with goa'uld technology, but I do have a lot of responsibilities back on Earth."

Harry nodded. "I understand. Well, I suppose we'll have to get all of the big stuff over with first then. Let's see if we can't get the new reactor in by the time you leave."

"So how do you want to do this?"

"Well, this is a big ship, but it's really only a few of the systems that would really benefit from a boost in power. I mean, I don't want to amp up the artificial gravity. Weapons, sensors, shields, and hyperspace, those are the systems we'll want to work on. Everything else branches out from their power lines. If we put limiters on those branches, we shouldn't have to worry about overpowering anything but what we want to. That leaves four conduits to shore up, but it'll still be a lot of work."

"Are you ready to start then?" she asked.

"No time like the present."

!!!!!

The work went like clockwork, much as it had the last time the two had worked together. Oddly enough though, it was the food that made Harry the happiest. At meal times, he could relax with the comforting tastes of food he had grown accustomed to. Mac and Cheese, breakfast cereals, even chocolate pudding. Every day, the haze that Harry had been walking through lifted a little more, as a sense of normalcy settled on his strange and eclectic life.

Five day's into the project, Harry had once again grown accustomed to having Sam around, though he knew that she would be leaving again soon. They spent the evening chatting and smiling. Sam liked to reference movies she had seen when she had been closer to his age. She was currently relating an incident from Young Frankenstein, where the monster had been tormented unknowingly by a blind man. Harry was laughing, imagining the slapstick situation in his head.

"You know," he said, when she had finished, "you never struck me as the sort to watch comedies like that." He hoped she wasn't offended.

"What did you expect? Sci-fi?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. But like, you're this career military woman, who also has more than one impressive doctorate. It's hard to imagine you watching Young Frankenstein with a bucket of popcorn."

Sam smiled. "Well what about you? What sort of things did you watch?"

"Well, I didn't really. I never got to watch TV with the Dursleys." Not wanting to kill the light mood, Harry changed the subject. "So how about me? What genre am I?"

"Well, there's the child hero aspect of things."

"Child hero?"

"Yes, well. Nine year old gallivanting around the galaxy fighting the goa'uld. Almost no reliance on adults. You could be a block buster hit."

"I guess," said Harry, reluctantly acceding to her point.

"And then there's the obvious sci-fi."

"Science-fact, you mean."

"Hey, your power's still defy scientific explanation."

"Oh!" he said, remembering his new method of trasportation. "I still need to show you my new trick?"

"You figured something out?"

"Well, it really just sort of happened. I'd had the thought before, but passed it off as risky."

"But you did it anyway," she said with a disapproving tone.

"It was during the battle over Tollana. I needed to abandon ship, and I didn't have any other options."

"So what did you do?"

"Well," he said. "You know how you can ring from one ship to another when you're in hyperspace?"

"Yes," said Sam hesitantly.

"Well, it gave me an idea."

"You're not going to tell me you opened your own hyperspace window," she joked.

"Well…"

Her eyes widened.

"It was a really small one," he said defensively. "Just big enough for the matter stream to slip through. I even raised my shield, just in case I got the timing wrong." He had remembered her warnings about trying risky things; he just hadn't had a choice at the time.

"And it worked."

"Yeah," he said. "It's actually pretty easy. I just have to concentrate a lot."

She let out a nervous laugh. "You never cease to amaze me, Harry. What range do you have?"

"I don't know. I don't think I could do more than a second, maybe one and a half, in hyperspace. And no amount of control would let me go across the room, I mean, hyperspace travel is too fast for that. So, maybe between a couple hundred miles, and thirty million miles."

Sam looked to be about to argue the figures when she became pensive. "The incredibly small size of your hyperspace window, and the low availability of power would severely limit speed." She nodded to herself. "Those numbers sound about accurate. How do you control where you come out?"

"I don't know," he said, "I just do. It's one of the strange things about my power. I can't explain it, but it's as though something guides me."

Sam shook her head

"You want to see some of the things I can do?" he asked.

"Sure."

"Okay, um, do you have ear plugs and sun glasses?"

"Yes, they're in my vest."

"Right, so, grab them, and we'll go outside."

She put on her vest and they ringed down to planet below.

"So," said Harry, "I guess mostly I'm good at combat things, but there's also some useful abilities. I'm good at making light." A ball of light formed over his hand and expanded. He swatted it up, and it hung above them, illuminating the area. "And I'm good at moving things. It's telekinesis, I guess." He began levitating rocks, and making them dance in the air. He supposed that he was showing off.

"That's amazing. How many things can you control at once?"

"Well, the light is sort of tied off. I don't have to think about it. But the rocks, I can do about five. After that, I don't have much control." He let all but one rock fall, and set it to hover above his left palm. "So, when I was first working with the naquadria, I had to figure out how to take out the impurities, and shape it how I wanted. I had to figure out how to do this." The jagged piece of granite above his hand started to glow red as it heated. Within moments, it started smoking, and flaming embers shot out of it, fading to nothing before they could touch Harry. The molten rock coalesced into a ball and rapidly cooled. It fell down into his hand and he handed it to Sam.

"Here, you can use it as a paper weight." He shook his head. "No, no, it would roll right off the desk. Anyway, it's nice, I guess."

"It's obsidian," commented Sam.

Harry nodded. "It cooled so fast, it didn't have time to crystallize. I actually learned about that in school," he said proudly. It was something he had learned the hard way, and remembered all on his own.

"It's very nice, Harry, thank you."

Harry grinned. "Okay, so, now you'll want to put on the glasses. And the ear plugs." She put them both on. "Right, so you told me about those flash bangs, right? Well I figured out how to do the same," he said loudly to be heard through the ear plugs.

"All right," said Sam.

"You ready?" asked Harry.

She nodded and Harry turned the air in front of him opaque, and created bubbles of static air around his ears. He clapped his hands together, producing a blinding flash of light, and what sounded like a cannon blast.

"Wow," said Sam when she stopped blinking. "How'd you do that?"

Harry grinned. "Science."

"Okay, you can explain later. I can tell you want to show me more."

He nodded. "You mentioned having fire fights, and taking cover."

"Yes."

"Well what if there's no cover to take?"

"I suppose you'll answer that question."

Harry flung his hand out and sent a concussive wave forward into the ground. Dirt and sod flew away from them as a large gouge formed in the earth, growing deeper towards the end.

"Instant fox-hole," commented Sam.

Harry nodded, breathing heavily, though he hadn't expended much energy. "And if you wanted smoke and fire to distract your enemies, or block their view." He flung out his hand once more, but instead of an invisible force rendering the earth, fire erupted from the ground, quite impressively.

"Wow," said Sam, but Harry didn't hear her. He stared into the flames and took a shuddering breath, his mind light years away. His hand went out again, and then once more, creating two new flaming gouges in front of them.

"Harry," Sam called out to him, but he still took no notice of her. She grasped him by the shoulder and turned him to face her. He stared up at her, his eyes wide.

"I killed them all, and they died in flames," he said after a moment, remembering the Jaffa he had killed, the weight of their deaths finally falling on his conscious mind.

"Yeah," said Sam, not having anything else to say.

"And I did what I had to."

"Yeah," said Sam again.

He took a deep breath, and stepped back against the ship, letting himself slide down to the ground. She sat down next to him and she put an arm around his shoulders.

"I'm going to do it again, because that's what happens in a war. They'll kill more people if I don't."

"If you stay out here," she said, "then yeah, you will probably kill more Jaffa, and human slaves as well."

"I'm going to stay, and I'm going to bloody up the goa'uld," he said seriously, a light in his eyes. "I'll destroy them all if I can."

Sam sighed. "Don't forget, Harry. You have friends in this fight too."

"I know," he said, looking up. "Hey Sam?"

"Yeah?"

"When you go back to Earth, could you tell Sarah that I still miss her, and thanks for everything?" It suddenly seemed very important that she knew he hadn't forgotten her.

"You could write her a letter."

"I guess," he said after a minute. "Let's go back in."

!!!!!

Sam left two days later. They had removed the old reactor, and the new one sat ready to go in. The power conduit leading to the shield emitters still had to be augmented, and Harry would finish it himself. It would take him a few days to finish, but he was in no hurry.

He had been meeting with Narim and his military advisors. The Tollans were getting ready for war, and production had increased substantially. They were building ships from scratch, leaving the ships they had fled their old home world in for evacuation only. The Tollan scientists had found a way to accelerate the reaction between naquadria and naquedah, and they were incorporating the power source into all of their new ships and cannons. Already, the satellite platforms the Tollans had devised were in orbit around the new Tollana. Harry didn't know how the Tollans were able to produce their technology so quickly, and his new allies were closed lipped about their methods.

Unfortunately, the Tollans had never put much into military preparedness, relying heavily on their ion cannons to protect them. Harry found himself helping them to develop strategy and structure. He adapted his goa'uld knowledge for the task. He didn't copy goa'uld method of course. Goa'uld strategy left much to be desired. He was able to apply what he knew and work with the Tollans to create something new, and something that would work against the goa'uld.

Tollan military intelligence was unfortunately limited to deep space sensors. They were able to give Harry a good picture of where goa'uld ships were in the galaxy, and where many of their planetary strongholds were, but he still had no concept of the current distribution of military might, or who was allied with whom.

The first plan of action that was decided upon was the destruction of whoever had taken up Tanith's resources. That goa'uld would likely inherit Tanith's mission to destroy the Tollans, as well as all strategic knowledge Tanith had had about them. Again though, they had no clue as to who this goa'uld would be, or where he was. Harry was eager to begin his fight against the goa'uld. His ship was ready to go, its capabilities were amazing. They just needed the relevant information.

Narim contacted Earth, and explained their need. The hope was that the SGC would contact the Tok'ra, who in turn would have the information they needed. It was four days later that SG-7 came to Tollana. They were delivered a data crystal from the Tok'ra.

First Officer Tellis gave Harry and the Tollan leaders a report based on the data.

"The goa'uld who stands to inherit Tanith's territory and forces is a minor goa'uld named Ammit. She was formerly a powerful System Lord, who gained her power after Anubis was banished. Over a millennia ago though, she had much of her power taken, mostly by Apophis. She was given the chance to live in service to the System Lord, and she took it.

"Currently, Tok'ra intelligence suggests that whoever was controlling Tanith is indeed controlling her as well. Ammit has been promised great power should she complete Tanith's mission and destroy us."

The man went on to describe Ammit's resources and placements. Harry spoke up.

"You do not yet have the resources necessary to mount an offensive attack. What do you think the chances are that Ammit will find you before you are ready for her?"

It was one of the Commander's who spoke up. "We have calculated roughly a ten percent chance that our presence was noticed as the Stargate network acknowledged the presence of our gate during the automated update nine days ago."

"Do the goa'uld now have the ability to get such information from a dialing device?"

"We do not know," said the officer. "Yet you said yourself that the goa'uld who attacked us had an affinity for ancient Gatebuilder technology."

Harry had recognized the shield emitter on his stolen al'kesh as being very similar to the Ancient technology that the goa'uld had tried and failed to replicate.

"Yet you do not have a traditional DHD," said Harry.

"True, but this planet has been dialed to by the Nox, who do."

Harry nodded. "Then it would be best for Ammit to be destroyed now." He made a mental note to ask about the Nox later.

"Are you volunteering?" asked Narim's chief aide.

"Yes," he said. "I for one would like to find out who this secret goa'uld is. If I can find out and destroy Ammit, then I think it will make all of our jobs easier."

"And what is your job, Captain Potter?" asked Narim himself.

Harry looked over to Narim. "To hurt the goa'uld as much as possible, so that someone can destroy them for good. They've been in power for thousands of years, it's time we took care of them."

Narim nodded "Do you have any information to add about Ammit?"

Harry had told the Tollans about his retention of Isis and Osiris' memories.

"Ammit probably inherited her power directly from Anubis. Before Osiris and Isis were captured, she was the most powerful goa'uld under him. She was his enforcer, and she was ruthless and relentless. When Anubis wanted something destroyed, she destroyed it."

"I see," said Narim quietly. Harry supposed his information hadn't been very optimistic. Especially not for people who had been targeted by Ammit."

"I guess it's a good thing I'm going after her first then. So, how do we want to do this?"

!!!!!

The ion cannon was a thing of beauty, Harry reflected. His entire ship hummed with power and life, but the cannon was the crown jewel. It wasn't so much because of its destructive power, though that was nice too. It was because the design was so elegant. Everything worked perfectly together, efficiently. Harry had immersed himself in the system to get a feel for the powerful weapon. Experiencing the workings of the cannon, he understood how it worked, and what every part did. He had no idea why it worked though. He hoped that the Tollans would eventually teach him some of their science.

Harry wasn't very happy with his mission's plan, though he agreed that it was the best they had. They didn't know exactly where Ammit was, so Harry would have to find her first. Until she had cemented her power base, Ammit would be reclusive, and hard to find. Fortunately, there were only a few places for her to be, as she only had control of a few worlds. Figuring that Ammit would be staying in what had been Tanith's strongest hold, Harry was going to a planet named simply Nut.

Much of the planet was covered by harsh jungle terrain, and intense electrical storms. The naquedah mines, near the Stargate, were in one of the few habitable areas on the planet. The underground bunker was on the other side, and it was accessible only by heavily guarded rings. Any ship trying to land would have to brave the nearly unpredictable storms. Harry agreed with the Tollans that this planet would be a logical place to start the search for the paranoid goa'uld.

With enough time, Harry could slowly destroy the planet's surface, starting with the Stargate of course. Not knowing the exact location of the base, this would be the most assured way to destroy the bunker. But aside from not wanting to kill the human slaves, Harry also didn't want to kill Ammit without finding out who she, and Tanith before her, was working for.

Using the ring platform was also out. There was no way for him to use it covertly, and he had learned his lesson about getting through an enemy base when they know you're there. For him to get in, he'd need to use some creativity. Harry came out of hyperspace right behind the planet's largest moon, using it to hide his presence. Opening a personal hyperspace window, Harry relied upon the Tok'ra intelligence to appear just out of sight of the clearing that contained the ring platform. Fortunately, while the platform was indeed heavily fortified, it was only guarded against anyone coming from the Stargate. None of the Jaffa noticed when he beamed a small, unnoticeable device onto the ring platform. The first step of his plan complete, Harry disappeared back to the Tar'Chell.

Next, he waited. He wound up waiting for two days before the ring platform was used. Apparently, Ammit had become more security minded since she had first been removed from power. The moment the transponder Harry had left on the platform and materialized inside the base, Harry was able to pinpoint its exact location. Extending his senses through the device, Harry found a secluded place to appear in.

Conforming to the goa'uld's complete lack of originality, the base was made after the same pattern as all other goa'uld bases. Golden walls covered in hieroglyphs, flaming sconces, and plenty of spots to duck behind to remain unseen. Of course, he wasn't going to be running through the halls this time. Going to the nearest air duct, Harry removed the covering and slipped inside. After replacing the cover, Harry put on his left hand a glove that the Tollans had given him for this mission. Holding out his hand, Harry willed the device to activate, and he was pulled down the duct effortlessly. Relying on the Tok'ra intelligence, Harry made his way down to the corridor that would give him access to Ammit's quarters. Pulling out his zat'ni'katel, Harry activated the Tollan phase shifting device and rolled through the wall, coming out into the corridor. Standing up quickly, he shot the two Jaffa guards standing in front of Ammit's door.

Harry hoped that the presence of the guards meant that Ammit was within, but he knew that the chances were that the door was constantly guarded. Phasing out once more, Harry stepped through Ammit's door. Once through he reflexively jumped to the side as a knife flew at him. He was still phased, so the jump was unnecessary. Ammit had raised her hand device against him, and he raised his shield as he came back into phase. The Tollans had warned him that it was not wise to stay out of phase for extended periods of time.

Ammit's wave of energy splashed harmlessly against his shield and Harry raised his zat'ni'katel, prompting Ammit to raise her own shield. But Harry hadn't intended to shoot her. With a deft throw, Harry's knife went through her hand device, making her cry out as the device shorted. She tried to run across the room, no doubt for another weapon, but Harry actually shot her with the zat'ni'katel this time.

Harry didn't have time to grab her though, as four guards ran into the room, staff weapons trained on him. Harry held his hands up, as though in surrender, and turned around. He knew that the Jaffa wouldn't kill him without their masters' okay, if they didn't have to. Closing his eyes, he beamed himself behind the Jaffa, and shot two of them, before he had to duck to the side as the other two brought their weapons to bear. He shot one of them, and then beamed himself back into the room before a bolt of plasma could hit him. Closing his eyes, he shot himself once more, this time behind Ammit. Using her as a shield against the lone Jaffa, Harry dematerialized both Ammit and himself, and flung them through a hyperspace window to his ship.

Only once they had rematerialized on the floor of the cargo hold did Harry realize his mistake, as cool air came into contact with his bare skin. He had been so worried about focusing on bringing both himself and Ammit, that he had forgotten to focus on bringing their clothes along. Aside from the two pieces of Tollan technology affixed to his person, Harry had left everything behind. Checking over Ammit, she still had his knife through her hand device, and a few pieces of jewelry.

Sensing that she would waken soon, Harry shrugged aside his modesty and placed his hands on either side of the host's head. Pushing his magic into her, he grasped onto the parasite in seconds and latched on. The goa'uld stirred from unconsciousness, but Harry didn't give it time to react. The connection open, Harry worked on ejecting the parasite as information flooded his mind. With a sickening sound, Ammit nearly shot out of the back of her host's neck. As with Isis and Osiris, he wasted no time in killing her.

Through his hand device, Harry sent the ship at its fastest speeds toward Tollana. All ready feeling light headed, Harry didn't bother trying to find clothing. He checked the host's hand, to be sure that it wasn't still bleeding, and then struggled to make his way out of the cargo hold. He locked the door behind him, and sat against the wall as he let unconsciousness take him. Perhaps it would have been better, he reflected, to bring a Tollan soldier along. He wouldn't be passing out naked against a wall if he had.

!!!!!

The Tar'Chell arrived in orbit around Tollana a little over an hour later. Harry was still far from consciousness at the time. When he next awoke, Harry was in a bed covered by a sheet, in what he could tell was a Tollan apartment. His head still hurting, though far less than the previous two times, Harry found a glass of water next to his bed and drank it. He could taste the vitamins and electrolytes that the Tollans often added to their water.

Feeling better, but still not knowing how he'd arrived in his current situation, Harry dressed in the clothes sitting at the foot of his large bed, and crossed the unlit room to the communications panel. He squinted his eyes as it lit up brightly. Once activated, it automatically routed his call to Narim's aide, Anan.

"Captain Potter," the man greeted him with a bow of his head. "You are well, I hope?"

"I will be," said Harry.

"If you require refreshment, a meal awaits you in your dining area. The High Chancellor requests that you meet him in his office at your earliest convenience."

Harry nodded. "I will eat first then. How do I get to the nearest transport terminal?"

"Your building is within sight of ours. Merely come outside and you will find your way."

Harry thanked the man for his assistance and ended the call. Going through the door, Harry found the promised meal: a sweet porridge and a fruit salad. He ate quickly, not wanting to keep Narim waiting. He was sure that the man was waiting for the information that Harry had pulled from Ammit's head. So, his head still hurting, Harry left the apartment only a few minutes later. The squat building had no elevators, so Harry took winding stairs down to the bottom floor.

He passed what seemed to be a play area for Tollan children on his way down. He was surprised by the pang of sadness that struck him; sadness that he would never be like those children again. Not that he had ever been, really.

Outside, he quickly saw the capitol building and walked over. He passed through the weapon-disabling field and through the doors of the building. He was greeted by many of the people he knew there as he passed by them. When he reached Anan's office, the man stood and opened the door for him. Narim greeted him with a slight smile on his lips.

"It is good to see you up, Captain Potter. I see you are dressed for this meeting."

Harry rolled his eyes as he resisted the urge to smile himself. "As to that," he said, "there are often hiccups when using new and largely untested methods of transportation."

"Then I am glad that the consequences were not dire."

"Oh, we were never in danger. I just forgot to focus on anything other than Ammit and myself."

"You cannot group things as one unit?"

Harry shook his head. "I suppose I could just take everything in an area, like a ring platform, but that would use more energy. No, I normally just focus on each item in turn.

"How is the host?" he asked Narim.

"She has been made comfortable," the Tollan leader replied. "But she is dying, as we had expected. The woman has yet to regain consciousness. We are unsure if she ever will."

Harry nodded. He had expected as much, Ammit had taken her host so many thousands of years ago; there had never been much chance of the woman's mind surviving.

"Do you have information for us?" asked Narim.

"Not as much as I had hoped," said Harry. "The goa'uld pulling the strings was to reveal himself to her only after she had found you. I do have a better picture of this galaxy now though. I have some ideas to revise our overall strategy. I will see about writing up a report on what I've learned."

"It seems that our plan has merely bought us more time."

"Your planet is far from defenseless, Narim. Forgetting the improvements you have made on your ion cannons, your satellite platforms are a formidable defense. Even if your defenses do fail in the future, your ships now incorporate the shield technology that was used against you. If ever you must evacuate again, you will be prepared."

"I notice that you did not mention yourself."

"I don't mean to take up residence. I'm thinking of taking a less direct role in this fight, for the time being."

"And what is that?"

"First Officer Tellis mentioned that it might be possible for the goa'uld to access the information stored in the ancient dialing devices."

"It is possible," said Narim, "but as yet, it is beyond even us."

"Well I think that I may be able to figure it out."

"You mean to use your power to access the information within."

"I think that magic makes a very useful shortcut."

Narim grimaced at the term. The Tollans had never been comfortable about his abilities, which still defied what they knew about the universe. "What is your plan then?"

"When the goa'uld first went out into the galaxy, they found gate builder technology on many of the planets they first found. For many years, this led a drive to find more planets with Stargates. Before you know it though, the goa'uld were dying out, and then they were just looking for hosts that would be more sustainable.

"Everything changed when they started their reign on Earth. They started fighting each other for territory, control. They started building their armies. After that, they didn't focus on spreading out, they focused on keeping control of what they had found."

"You wish to find more technology."

"If possible. If I can find where the Stargates are, I would be able to narrow down such a search drastically. That's not all though."

"What else do you hope to find?"

"It's likely that the goa'uld hunting you has discovered more Gatebuilder technology. That's why I hope to find more planets that they have been to. Any goa'uld at a planet that isn't known to the other goa'uld is a potentially the goa'uld we are looking for."

Narim nodded. "Your plan has merit, though I fear that there are too many planets for you to search in a reasonable amount of time. The chances are better that this goa'uld will reveal himself before you can find him."

"You're probably right. But the chances of me finding nothing are small. Anyway, I think I know where to start."

"Oh?"

"I could be wrong, but I think he's staying close to home. Tanith, Ammit, your old home world, they're all clustered on the far edge of the same arm of the galaxy. Like I said, I could be wrong, but it still seems like a good starting point."

"You're probably right. But the chances of me finding nothing are small"

Narim nodded once more. "We have no dialing device on Tollana."

"I will use the one on Oberdad. If I can access the information I'm looking for, I'll focus my attention on searching planets the goa'uld haven't discovered yet."

"Your presence would be missed. Many on Tollana see you as our greatest defense."

"I won't forget my allies, Narim. I'll stay in contact, and come back."

"I did not doubt that you would. Good luck on your search."

"Thank you. I'll write up a report detailing some of the more important things I've learned. Should I go ahead with my mission, I will continue giving more detailed reports."

"That will be appreciated."

Harry left soon, walking to the Stargate. He decided that he wouldn't need his ship for this short mission; he would leave it in orbit around Tollana. He brought with him only a data crystal to store the data he hoped to find.

Oberdad had changed since he had last been there. Harry could tell that there had been a storm recently on the costal area, and heavy dark clouds still loomed overhead. Deciding not to waste any time, Harry went to the dialing device, and warmed the still air around him. Harry opened the lower compartment on the dialing device, exposing the crystals within. Harry attached his own into the available port.

Placing his hand on top of the device, he closed his eyes and pushed his magic into it. He raced through the systems, the dialing protocols, and security. The system that kept track of other Stargates was not evident though. Harry knew that it had to be in there somewhere, but it was hidden. Sliding his hand down the device, Harry sat down on the cold ground, keeping his mind focused on the device in front of him.

There was something there, a piece of the puzzle. He followed it but lost the trail. It was evident that the gate builders had not wanted anyone to get the information held within, though he couldn't tell why. He went back to the piece of code that he had found, and closed his mind to all other stimulus, shutting out even the rest of the dialing computer's systems. The piece of code he had found didn't actually make any sense; the math didn't add up. He ignored what the code said, and focused on simply on accessing the whole system. Somehow, it was as though the code was slippery.

Harry spent the rest of the day sitting in front of the dialing device, trying to separate out the data he wanted, and copy it to the crystal. He failed every time he tried though. When night finally fell, Harry got off the ground and stretched, his body letting him know it's displeasure. He vowed to come back the next day, and the one after that. He would get the information he wanted.


	5. 05 Termination

Termination

Mid January, the weather in Colorado was quite cold. Jack liked the snow as much as any other man, but he did wish that he could keep his car's heater running all day. He was always half way home before his truck reached just the right temperature. His home on the other hand, had a thermostat, and he did so appreciate it.

He grabbed a beer from his refrigerator and opened it. An odd feeling fell over him though, as he took the first sip. A haze fell over his mind. He knew that he should do something, but he couldn't think what, so he sat down at the kitchen table instead.

When he did so, an odd man walked through the door. He had long, black, untamed hair, and loose dirty clothing. The man looked awful. Years of training and experience told Jack what to do. Slowly, mechanically, he pulled out his pistol and pointed it at the man.

"That won't work," said the man. "Not right here, not right now. I took care of that. It won't work, Jack O'Neill."

Jack didn't reply. He pointed the gun at the man's shoulder and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. The man sat down across from him, and Jack put the gun down.

"Who are you?"

"That's a secret," the man said, "an important secret. It's dangerous to tell. I have to ask the questions here; that's why I put truth serum in all of your drinks. Tell me where my godson is."

"I don't know." The question asked, everything else went out of focus, all that mattered was answering the question, but he didn't know the answer.

"Why don't you know?" asked the man.

"I don't know who your godson is."

There was a howl; it came from the man sitting across from him. "Harry! Harry Potter. You were searching for him. Where is he?"

"I don't know anymore."

"But you did."

"Yes."

"What happened to him?"

"Harry lived in a cupboard. Harry was taken as a host by the goa'uld Isis. Harry was taken off of Earth to Calaissis. Harry freed himself from Isis and killed him. Harry's hand device incorporated itself into his arm. Harry contemplated suicide. Harry rescued Sarah from the goa'uld Osiris. Harry upgraded his ship. Harry defeated the goa'uld Tanith and his fleet; he saved the Tollans. Harry got a new ship, a new reactor, and a new cannon."

"I thought I was crazy," said the man. It wasn't a question, and Jack started to come back into focus. "What are you talking about?" The haze returned.

"Harry Potter, and the Stargate Program."

"Tell me about the Stargate Program."

Jack answered him.

!!!!!

Sirius was fighting the urges to both laugh and cry. He knew that he was close to insanity; he was certainly unstable. But the man across from him sounded fit for a loony bin. But he couldn't be insane; the Veritaserum was proof of that. The potion could filter through minor delusions, and if the man were truly insane, then there was little chance of him being an active military colonel.

He imagined his mother's reaction if she were to find out what he was learning now. Muggles traveling to different planets. Just to prove that they could, the American Magical Democracy had sent two wizards to the moon shortly after their muggle counterparts had. Sirius knew that the magic didn't exist to travel to another planet. He imagined his mother's face, imagined telling her that muggles could do something amazing that wizards couldn't. He shook his head; he was here for Harry, not for his mother.

He had been watching O'Neill for close to a month hoping to find some hint of where Harry was. The news of his godson's escape had reached even Azkaban, and after escaping from Azkaban, he had learned of the man by questioning the Dursleys, who were awaiting trial. He had come to America in secret, letting the world think that he was still in the United Kingdom. His journey complete, it had been simple enough to find the Air Force Colonel named Jack O'Neill. When nothing had turned up, he had decided to take a more proactive approach to the search, and had managed to acquire the truth serum off the black market, after he had acquired another wand.

"Enough about the Stargate program. What are your intentions towards my godson?"

"I want to bring him back to Earth."

"Why?" He preemptively restrained himself. He would destroy the man if he meant to hurt Harry, but he needed to get as much information as he could first.

"Harry's nine years old. Nine year olds shouldn't be fighting. He needs a home, and friends. He should be protected."

"You don't want to use him for this Stargate Program?"

"He can help if he wants to. I think he'd want to."

"How can he help?"

"He retained the knowledge of Isis and Osiris. He can help us to understand their technology."

"How was he, the last time you saw him?"

"Harry was healthy. He was still recovering from being a host. He was dealing with his responsibility for the destruction of the goa'uld fleet."

"How can I get to him?" His godson needed him that much was clear.

"You can't."

"Why not?!"

"The Stargate is too well protected. You would not be able to get to it."

"What if I were invisible?"

"We have ways to detect invisible persons. You would be detected."

"What if I took someone else's appearance?"

"We've dealt with that before. You might be detected."

"Do you have any ships?"

"Nothing has been finished yet."

"When they're finished, would they be more accessible?"

"Slightly."

Sirius sighed and shook his head. "Look out for my godson." It wasn't a question.

Jack looked up. "I will."

Sirius pulled out a small vial of dandelion extract. The juice would nullify the effects of the Veritaserum. He opened the vial and poured a few drops into his own mouth, letting the other man see, before handing it to him. "Drink this," he instructed O'Neill. He wanted more information, but Veritaserum could be toxic if used for long periods of time in muggles. "I'd get rid of the rest of your drinks, if I were you. I doctored them all."

Sirius walked out of the room, and Disapparated as soon as he was out of sight of the muggle.

!!!!!

On Oberdad, Harry and two Tollan scientists stood around the dialing device. It had been over a week since Harry had first attempted to access the data within. He had been working constantly on the project, taking a break only to go to the small funeral for Ammit's host. Today though they were finally making progress. The two Tollans had proved to be quite a help; their computers allowing Harry to see all of the data they were trying to retrieve. Copying it to a crystal so that it could be analyzed was still proving difficult. They had discussed trying to remove the crystal it was isolated in, but the system would destroy the data before they could. Harry had been forced to try different tactics, past the brute force he had earlier employed.

He nodded to Shen and Dullis, and renewed his efforts. He made a tunnel of energy around the separated code and connected it to the crystal. He imagined an emptiness in the crystal as he constricted the energy around the code. The Tollan computers gave a command through the system for the information to transfer. Harry's eyes widened as the data finally flowed into the crystal.

"It's done," he said, though the Tollans could already tell as much.

"The data exists only on the crystal, the information did not copy itself," said Shen.

"The system wouldn't let it," Harry replied. "But we should be able to copy the crystal, and return the data."

"I believe that you are correct," said Dullis. He pulled the crystal from the dialing device and connected it to his tablet computer. "The data is copying." A second later, he disconnected the crystal and placed it back into the dialing device. A single command later, and the data was where it had started.

"Congratulations, Captain Potter," said Shen. "We may well be the first to have accomplished this."

Harry was looking at the data scroll across the screen. "This data still doesn't make any sense. I don't think the actual addresses are in here. It gives starting locations from thousands of years ago, and the calculations that track them."

"The math doesn't make sense though," said Dullis, the more serious of the two scientists.

"I know what you mean," said Harry. "The goa'uld copied a lot of Gatebuilder coding to use for their own, but there are symbols here I don't understand. The stuff I do still doesn't add up."

"We will have to analyze this back on Tollana. We will send a copy of it to your ship so that you may search through it as well. I am sure that we will be able to make sense of it eventually."

"I hope so," said Harry, "because that's one week that I'm not getting back."

!!!!!

The clearing in which the Tollan Stargate stood was not as empty as it usually seemed to be. SG-1 was waiting for them with a two-man Tollan escort. Harry smiled at Sam and the rest and greeted them.

"Hey Sam," he gave her a hug, setting his things on the ground. "How are you all?"

"We're okay Harry. Things have been a little crazy since I left, but we're okay."

"That's good. What brings you guys here though?"

"We wanted to talk to you actually," said Jack.

"Here to offer me another tour of the SGC?"

"Well," he said, "that too, but mostly we're here to ask you about your godfather."

That took Harry by surprise. "I have a godfather?"

"I don't know, but the guy who broke into my house sure thought so."

"Er," said Harry, "why don't we talk on my ship. I want to start analyzing some data right away."

"Sure," said Jack.

Harry looked at Shen questioningly.

"I will have the information sent immediately," said the man.

"Thank you," said Harry. He turned to SG-1. "The ring platform is just over there." He pointed to a patch of grassy ground that looked no different from the rest.

The five of them stood in the center, and Harry activated the Tollan made rings, leaving the four Tollans behind.

"So," said Harry when they entered the living area, "what's all this about a godfather?'

"We asked the Dursley's already," said Daniel, "but if they knew anything they didn't say. Your public records don't mention anything, but that's not very surprising."

"So what happened?"

"This guy got into my house when I was out," said Jack, "he put some sort of truth serum into all of my beverages."

"Sodium pentothal?" asked Harry.

"We have no idea what it is," said Sam, "only that it works perfectly, and that dandelion juice is the antidote."

"We've got a lot of scientists looking at the stuff now," added Jack. "Anyway, he asked me about what happened to you, which led to questions about the Stargate."

"What did he look like?" asked Harry, though he doubted that he'd recognize a description.

"All I remember is long black hair. Everything else is hazy."

"I wish I could tell you more," said Harry, intrigued by the thought of having a godfather.

"Well whoever he is," said Daniel, "he seems to give more evidence for their being more people like you on Earth."

"Is the truth serum necessarily beyond your current science?"

"That," said Sam, "and the fact that for five hours after he left, guns couldn't be fired in Jacks house, matches wouldn't light, and the stove wouldn't turn on."

"He prevented combustion?" asked Harry, surprised.

"Is that something you can accomplish?" asked Teal'c.

"I don't know," he answered, "I'd have to think on it."

His hand device alerted him to a transmission. "Ooh," he said, "they sent the data I was hoping for."

"What are you working on?" asked Daniel.

"We pulled the stellar cartography data from a dialing device. I'm hoping to figure it out so I can get a complete list of all the Stargates in the galaxy."

"Yeah," said Jack, "we sort of have one of those all ready."

"Excuse me," Harry deadpanned.

"Most of one," added Daniel. "It's sort of old."

"It took us a week to crack that dialing device."

"Yes well, you never did ask," said Jack.

"How'd you get it?"

"We discovered an ancient repository," said Teal'c.

"Cheaters," Harry grumbled.

"You know I tried to do the same with a DHD," said Sam, "but I didn't get close to cracking it, it's still beyond us."

"Well, I had magic, and Tollan computers and scientists. Actually, those computers are beyond me too."

"So, let's see it then," said Jack. "A big list of Stargate addresses. We'll see how good ours is."

"Well we can't yet, it didn't store the addresses. It just tells you how to figure it out."

"And?" said Jack.

"And it doesn't make sense. None of the equations do."

"Have you tried using base eight math?" asked Jack, as though that were the most obvious of choices. Sam rolled her eyes at him and Harry looked at him askance.

"Base eight?" he asked.

Sam answered. "When we first discovered the list of addresses, we also found equations that would help to calculate stellar drift. The numbers were base eight."

Harry walked toward the control room and the others followed him. He sat down at a terminal and called up the information before putting in a few commands. The numbers on the screen all changed and Harry's eyes went over the data.

"Hmph," he said. "Base eight math. What made the gate builders so paranoid about this anyway?"

"Well," said Sam, "I don't know about paranoid, but working in base eight actually makes these equations easier to conceptualize."

"Really," said Harry. "Can you help me figure these out?"

"Sure," she said.

"I don't recognize a lot of these symbols here."

"Actually, I think you should already know them in different forms," said Daniel. "They're an older form of symbols than the ones the goa'uld copied. I can help you with that."

"Thanks," said Harry. "I'll just bring Shen up to speed with all of this," he said, quickly composing the message and sending it.

It took them the rest of the day to work out all of the relevant equations. Jack and Teal'c wound up leaving to check in with the SGC. But before they were ready to take a break for the night, they finished working out the last of the equations. Harry ordered the ships computer to calculate the equations with the relevant data, and one at a time, Stargate addresses began to scroll across the screen.

"So how many are there going to be?" asked Jack.

"Eleven hundred and twenty-eight," answered Harry. "That's a little over double what the goa'uld have discovered.

"We have a total of a thousand and eighteen," said Sam, "and we haven't even finished calculating all of them yet."

"Well then," said Harry with a grin. "It's only fair that you get a copy. You did help."

"That's great, Harry," said Sam. "Doctor Grahm has been complaining about the monopolization of that super computer."

"What does he want to do with it?"

"He's been working on a program to calculate hyperspace trajectories."

"Oh. Good luck, then."

"His work looks promising. And he wants to beat the guys in Research and Development to the chase."

"So Harry," said Jack, "what are you going to be doing with this big list of yours?"

Harry shrugged. "I'll be looking around, seeing what I can find. There's a lot out there, I figure I'll find something useful."

"Well, just leave some stuff out there for us."

"I'm sure the playground is big enough for the both of us," said Harry.

He could tell that Jack was happy that he wasn't chasing after more goa'uld. Little did the man know.

!!!!!

Harry had expected it to be fun to travel to planets not seen for thousands of years. He was systematically traveling to each planet in turn in the Tar'Chell and running a surface scan on each one. The first two planets had been incredibly dull actually; it was the third that was amazing. The world was picturesque, but it was the buildings on the smallest continent that were amazing. They were largely void of technology; most of them weren't even complete. The small city had been a work in progress when it had been abandoned. The technology used to build what was there had been removed.

There was little left that was useful; Harry couldn't decide whether it would be better to try to inhabit the city or use it for materials. The structure contained a large amount of trinium, and many of the buildings already had power conduits and information relays installed. Either way, Harry didn't have much use for what was there, so he scavenged a few parts that he thought could come in handy, and left, writing up the planet in his report.

For a while, the city was the most exciting thing Harry found. There were gizmos and gadgets to find on a handful of the twenty-two planets he visited after that, and they were all interesting. Many of the objects he found were quite useless, complimenting other, larger, pieces of technology that were not evident. But it was amazing to explore the complex and perfect devices with his power. Every new thing to study broadened Harry's understanding of Gatebuilder technology. After he studied the devices, he sent his findings to both the Tollans and to Earth, along with some of the technology itself. Some things he kept.

The personal shield device that he found with the long dead remains of what Harry could only assume was an Ancient. Harry knew little of divining secrets from bodies, but it seemed that he had been shot in the back with an energy weapon. Harry supposed that a shield could only help if it was on. He sent his analysis of the device back to his allies, but decided that he would rather keep it to study (and to use). He started to work on mimicking the shields effect with his magic. It was difficult to focus his energy in the right way though. He started planning a way to upgrade the hand device still fused to his arm to incorporate the more perfect shield.

Eventually though he did find a planet inhabited by a goa'uld. Harry didn't think that it was the mysterious and secret goa'uld that was hunting the Tollans though. There was too little security for the world to belong to anything but a very minor goa'uld. There was a small naquedah mine, and a small human population working it. Harry doubted that this goa'uld had ten Jaffa to his name. The only reason this planet had not been claimed by a more powerful goa'uld was because no one else knew it was there. He debated killing the goa'uld, but decided against it. If his allies wanted to take action, and perhaps get a source of naquedah, he'd let them take that responsibility. In the meantime he would continue his search.

!!!!!

As Harry explored the far reaches of the Milky Way, SG-1 was discussing the assassination of the System Lords with Ren Al, a Tok'ra scientist.

"We have the opportunity to destroy the System Lords, and perhaps cripple the goa'uld," she said. "The power vacuum this would cause would set the goa'uld against themselves, and while they are fighting we'll be able to take more overt actions against them. With the Tollan people going to war, and the Jaffa rebellion, this summit puts all of the pieces into place. All we need is a human fluent in goa'uld, who is not already a host."

All eyes went to Daniel. "You want me to do this?"

"Would you have a problem with assassinating the most powerful and evil goa'uld in the galaxy?"

"None whatsoever," said Daniel.

Jack spoke up. "How exactly do you plan to get our favorite archeologist into this shindig?"

"That aspect of this mission has fallen to Selmak."

!!!!!

For all of the technology he had found, and for all of the amazing things he had seen, nothing had quite astounded him until he saw what the SGC would eventually label P5X-101; he was two months into his search. Strategically, there was nothing there worth seeing. There was no technology, no ruins, and no rare materials. But every inch of the planet was beautiful, as though sculpted by an artist's hands. Harry was familiar with some of the natural wonders of his own home world, but nature hadn't been responsible for what Harry was seeing. Someone had created this world long ago to be a paradise, their work so perfect that it maintained itself for millennia.

Harry transported down to the planet, just for a couple of hours, to see it up close. When he returned to his ship, he composed a quick report on the planet, including his sensor readings. He sent it over subspace to the Tollans, and through the Stargate to Earth. He had been sending a report for every ten planets, but he felt compelled to share his finding sooner. Who knew, maybe one day the planet could be enjoyed without the threat of the goa'uld.

Oddly enough, it was the next planet that held what he had been searching for. There were three construction yards on the planet's surface, along with a heavily fortified base. There was evidence of a ship crashed long ago, likely Gatebuilder technology. Harry was sure that he had found a planet that belonged to the mysterious goa'uld.

!!!!!

Daniel did not think that any of his previous expeditions through the Stargate could begin to compare to what he was doing right then. There he was, hidden in plain sight amongst the most powerful and evil goa'uld, and he was about to kill them all. They had been in session for almost a day already, but they were waiting for one more goa'uld. Daniel had to turn around when the last member of the summit entered. Zipacna would recognize him in an instant. He removed the symbiote poison and pressed the button on the side, combining the two chemicals.

"As we speak," Zipacna was saying, "my forces lay siege to the Tok'ra home world."

Daniel nearly turned around when he heard; the rest of SG-1 was on Revanna with the Tok'ra, along with SG-17. Five seconds later, he felt the colorless and odorless gas quietly pass through his fingers. Only three seconds later, Yu gasped as he was first affected by the gas. The goa'uld to his right stood abruptly. Pandemonium ensued.

!!!!!

A quick excursion to the most complete of the ships confirmed that it incorporated the new shield technology. Harry returned to the Tar'Chell to plan the next part of his mission. Not for the first time, Harry wondered why the goa'uld didn't use satellites to see behind blind spots like the moon he was hiding behind.

Well past his ship's midnight, Harry had had a pasta dinner, and a couple snacks after that. He would rather have been sleeping, but it was nightfall at the shipyards, and everything would be abandoned for the night. This was the best time for a strike.

Harry opened a hyperspace window to the compound and disappeared from his ship. He appeared in the center of the compound, with his new shield all ready raised. He took a shot in the back from a quick reacting Jaffa. Harry turned around deactivated his shield before shooting two Jaffa with his zat'ni'katel. Just his luck, alarms went off, likely sensitive to the weapons fire. Fortunately, he had come out in the command room, as he had hoped. He went to an access terminal and called up the schematics of the base. There were loud footsteps behind him, and Harry had to roll out of the way of a staff blast. Taking one last glance at the map, he opened another hyperspace window back to his ship. He didn't stop to rest though. He quickly opened another window and appeared in the quarters of whichever goa'uld ran the base. He didn't find what he was expecting though.

!!!!!

Daniel wound up dragging Yu's body back to the cargo ship. He claimed that he was taking the body back to one of Yu's worlds with the hope of reviving him in a sarcophagus. Three of the other slaves were trying the same. Two of the other human slaves had killed themselves. The other two had simply sunk into despair, becoming despondent. Daniel didn't have time to worry about them. Reaching the docked Tel'tak, he left Yu's body outside and closed the door behind him. He pulled out the Tok'ra communicator.

"Jacob," he said into the device.

"Daniel," replied Jacob, "have you completed the mission?"

"I did, we got Zipacna too. But we need to leave now, they've found Revanna."

Selmak took over. "How? When?"

"I don't know, I'd already activated the poison, I never got any details. Should we contact anyone?"

"If the attack is already underway, then it will do no good. There can be no help through the Stargate. We are on our own. Am I correct in assuming that Yu's ship has a cloak?"

Daniel consulted the ships controls. "Only the best for Lord Yu," he answered.

"Okay, here's the plan."

!!!!!

"**You are no goa'uld,**" said Harry to the black-cloaked figure, whose face was hidden by an illusion. He could sense no symbiote.

"**I am Anubis, mortal, it is you who tries to pass as a god. But no matter, your secrets shall soon belong to me.**"

"**Anubis was assassinated millennia ago." **At least, Harry hoped so. There had never been a goa'uld as terrible as Anubis. "**He died alone and friendless." **Harry's hand device silently told him that the time-delayed instructions he had given his ship were being carried out. The Tar'Chell would slip out from behind the moon and fire upon the construction sights, he had figured that it would work well for a distraction.

"**Alone, yes. Friendless, yes. But I am not so easily killed, for I am a true god." **He activated a device on his arm, summoning the guards, Harry knew.

Before the doors could open, Harry summoned a ball of fire, and threw it at Anubis. The black cloak went up in flames, but all that this garnered was laughter.

"**You cannot kill a god!" **shouted Anubis.

Harry raised his shield before he took two staff blasts to his back, the kinetic force sending him to the ground. He shot himself to the other side of the room, and dropped his shield. He shot two of the Jaffa before shooting back to his starting point. The Jaffa anticipated him though, and he had to dodge two more staff blasts. He raised the shield once more and pulled his knife. He ran and leapt at the two Jaffa and dropped his shield at the last second, before his knife went into the neck of one, and his fist into the face of the other. A kick to the back of the head of the latter Jaffa left them both on the ground.

Harry put his hand on the doorway, and pushed his power in, making the doors shut and lock. He turned his attention back to Anubis, who was still laughing. Without the cloak, Harry could see that there was no body, just a darkness encased in a force field.

"**There is little wonder that you were banished,**" he addressed the wraith.

"**I have gained true immortality, true power.**"

"**Can you feel? Eat? Dream? You are already dead." **Harry would have attacked him, but his hand device alerted him that his ship would soon come under attack. With no time to waste, Harry disappeared back to his ship.

!!!!!

Goa'uld technology would not allow a cloak to be used with the hyperdrive running, hence a cargo ship would have to cloak immediately after exiting hyperspace to try to evade detection. On the outskirts of Revanna's solar system, Daniel and Jacob's ships came out of hyperspace. Daniel brought his right underneath Jacob's and activated his cloak. Jacob would then use his own ship to carry both ships on the quick trip to Revanna.

"I'm getting an alert from the surface," said Jacob over the ship's speakers.

"What does it say?"

"The base has been compromised. Assume no survivors."

Daniel paused. "I've learned to do the opposite, actually."

"I want to go get my daughter too, but there's no way of even knowing where anyone is, if there are any survivors."

"Is there any way for them to send us a signal?"

"The signal that we're getting means that the main base communications terminal is down. They'd have to alter one of the alerting devices."

"So we wait for them to do that."

!!!!!

Ironically, it was Anubis' new shield technology that saved him from the onslaught of fire. Harry returned fire, his weapons enhanced with naquadria. His plasma turrets rained down incredible power but the ion cannon truly held a massive force, making perfect white light slam into the Ha'tak. Small explosions began to appear around the mothership behind it's shield.

Harry's ship wasn't doing very well either, as he did his best to out maneuver the far larger ship. He was getting in far more shots, but the bolts of plasma being shot at his ship were nearly a fifth of it's size. One of the power conduits behind him exploded, temporarily taking out his sub-light engines. He became a sitting duck. Not wanting to give up, Harry kept up his barrage on the Ha'tak. Two blasts made it through the mammoth ship's shields, one winged a non-vital corner of the ship, but the other made a direct hit into the side of the ship.

The explosion destroyed a large part of the ship, effectively neutralizing it, but the ship did not explode. Harry stopped firing, considering raiding the ship. His planning was interrupted though when another Ha'tak dropped out of hyperspace and locked it's weapons onto him.

"Well, shoot," he said out loud. Targeting the base below him, Harry figured that he could destroy Anubis while he had the chance. Two blasts from his ion cannon raced down to the planet, but not soon enough. The beam of a ring transporter reached up to the Ha'tak and presumably delivered the former system lord unto its safety. Knowing the better part of valor, Harry jumped his ship into hyperspace as the Ha'tak fired upon him. He had a report to give in person.

!!!!!

"The signal has changed," Selmak called over the comm.

"What is it now?"

"Morse code, it's an SOS," answered Jacob.

"Well that's either Jack or Sam."

"Or both. I'm sending you the location now. Remember the plan."

Jacob's hyperdrive dragged both ships through hyperspace to Revanna, Daniel's ship still cloaked. They arrived in under a minute, Jacob cloaked immediately, but they knew that he would likely be spotted. Jacob followed his exit trajectory to the planet, while Daniel changed direction, making a more direct rout to the sensor array sending out the signal. As they had expected, Jacob's ship was detected as it passed through the atmosphere, and soon he was being chased by death gliders.

Daniel found the nearest place to land near the sensor array and set down. He exited, hoping that he would find all of his friends alive. He ran towards the coordinates he had passed over on his decent. He was relieved to see the rest of his team there with Lieutenant Elliot, who was lying injured on the ground.

"Guys," he addressed the group.

"Daniel," said Jack, "well that was fast."

"Is there anyone else?" he asked.

Sam shook her head morosely. "Except for Lantash, who jumped into Elliot, we're the last ones."

Daniel shook his head. "Well we need to get out of here, I've got a ship a quarter of a mile in that direction," he pointed.

"Where's my dad?"

"He should have crash landed somewhere."

"What?!"

"Don't worry, it's all part of the plan." It's easier to survive a crash landing when you plan for it. Jacob would leave the ship and arrive at a rendezvous point.

The trip back to the Tel'tak was slower because of the Lieutenant, but they made it without incident. More experienced, Teal'c took the helm and took them to the rendezvous coordinates, flying slowly to better avoid detection. Once they had retrieved the General, Teal'c took them quickly out of the atmosphere, and escaped into hyperspace.

Sam spoke up. "We need to get Elliot to a Stargate, he won't survive a trip to Earth in a cargo ship."

"Sam," said Elliot. "Major, I will not survive either way."

"No, you can make it."

"We may not be able to help you on Earth," said Daniel, "but what about surviving Tok'ra outposts?"

"It is possible, but unlikely."

Teal'c stood up from the helm, the ship on auto-pilot. "Do not the Tollans possess superior healing technology?"

"They have been itching to do us a favor," said Jack.

"We'll have to gate to Earth first," said Sam. "We won't get through their gate without the right signal."

"**The closest planet we could put down at is Nerran**," said Selmak. "**It is but an hours journey away**."

"Sounds like a plan then," said Jack.

!!!!!

Harry ringed down to Tollana's surface, not feeling up to opening another hyperspace window. He turned to walk to the transport station, when the Stargate activated behind him. The device that controlled the gate's security went from yellow to blue, indicating that it was one of the Tollan's few allies. Were it to stay yellow, the rather ingenious system would forward any matter to another Stargate on an empty planet.

Two people walked through the gate, with a third on a gurney between them. Harry recognized Sam, but not the man standing across from her. He approached the three.

"Sam," he called out, "I didn't expect to see you today." Then he felt the symbiotes. "Goa'uld!" he cried out, taking a step back and raising his hand device.

"Whoa," said Sam, holding up her own hand. "They're Tok'ra, allies. And this one is in need of medical attention.

Intellectually, Harry knew that the Tok'ra were not like the other goa'uld, and were in fact allies in the fight against the goa'uld. It didn't feel like it though. Still, he lowered his hand and gazed at the two mistrustfully.

"Medics will arrive soon," he said as two Tollan guards appeared on the transport station, followed soon by the medics who ran over. The sensors in the field would have alerted them.

"What is his condition?" asked one.

Sam answered him. "He has internal bleeding and a few fractures from being in a cave-in. His Tok'ra symbiote is weak and dying as well."

The other medic attached a device on Elliot's chest, causing him to hover over the bed. The IV bag was grabbed off its hook. The two men took off running, the body easily keeping pace.

"Is he a friend of yours?" asked Harry, noting the man's similar Air Force uniform.

"He's our most recent SG recruit. I'm- close to the symbiote."

Harry nodded.

"Anyway," she continued, "I should introduce you to my father, General Jacob Carter, and his symbiote Selmak."

Of course she had told him that her father was Tok'ra, but it had never seemed real. Slowly, he raised his left hand towards the man. Jacob shook it.

"You have good reason to despise and mistrust the goa'uld," said Jacob, "but you will see that we are not like them."

Harry nodded and turned back to Sam, keeping Jacob in the corner of his eye.

"I have disturbing news for the Tollans, but it affects us all. The goa'uld behind the attack on Tollana is Anubis."

"**Anubis is dead**," said Selmak forcefully.

Harry took a step back and eyed the Tok'ra. "I believed the same, and he may as well be. His body is gone, but the entity that is Anubis still exists."

"This is one tragedy after another," said Jacob, obviously distressed.

"We aren't dead yet, Anubis still has a small power base. He's still got the System Lords to contend with."

"We just killed the System Lords," said Sam softly.

"Well," said Harry after a moments pause, "bother."


	6. 06 Guerillas

Disclaimer: I am not nearly awesome enough to be the creator or owner of either Harry Potter or Stargate.

Guerillas

Above Tollana, Harry waited with nervous anticipation in the Tar'Chell. When he had learned that Earth was going to be running the first test of the hyperdrive on their X-302, he had been tempted to volunteer to run the test with them, in case something went wrong. But he would have had to return to Earth to do that, and he still was not ready to do that yet. Still, sitting there waiting for either bad news, or for Sam and Jack to drop out of hyperspace, Harry was left thinking that the risk would have been worth it. The wait was awful; he knew that there were so many ways for the test to go badly. His ship alerted him of an incoming ring transport, and he stood up to greet his guests.

Harry crossed the room to find Daniel, Teal'c, and a man called Major Davis. They were there to wait with him.

"Hello Harry," said Daniel.

"Greetings," said Teal'c.

"Hi," said Harry.

Daniel introduced him to the Major, who was there representing the Pentagon.

"So, Harry," said Daniel after they were settled, "how have you been?"

"How have I been? All this waiting is driving me crazy. I don't know how you guys do stuff like this." Now that the others were there to look out the windows for visual signs of the completed mission, he took the opportunity to pace the room.

"Well it's not that bad Harry," Daniel replied. "I mean, we do this kind of thing all the time. It is only a test flight."

Harry waved his hand dismissively. "Only a test flight? It's Earth's first test of this craft, the first test of an Earth hyperdrive, and it's the first test of a hyperdrive vessel this small. And let's not forget your level of technology. The ship could blow up, or wind up in the middle of nowhere. The inertial dampeners could accidentally-"

"They have arrived," Teal'c interrupted.

"Hm?" asked Harry, who looked out the window.

There, just under a mile away from the Tar'Chell, Harry could barely make out the form of the small fighter-interceptor. He moved to the sensor controls to check on it.

"I'm picking up two life-signs, and the ship seems to be okay."

"Excellent," said the Major. "See, our level of technology was up to the task."

"Humph," said Harry. "This time. They're hailing us." He opened a connection and Jack's voice came over the speakers.

"Greetings, we come in peace."

"And only one piece at that," said Daniel.

"Were you waiting for long?"

"We have only been here for a few minutes," said Teal'c. Harry grumbled.

"Colonel O'Neill, Major Carter," said Major Davis, "on the behalf of the US government, I would like to congratulate you on the successful completion of this test flight. I also think that I speak for everyone here, when I say we're glad that you made it here all right."

"Thank you, Major," said Sam. "And Harry, we couldn't have done this without you."

"I'll remember that if you guys every get yourselves blown up in that thing."

"Grumpy much?" asked Jack.

"Only a little," said Daniel. Harry rolled his eyes. "You guys ready to make the return trip?"

"All systems are green," said Sam, "and everything worked as it was supposed to on the way over."

"I'll be waiting there for you," said Harry, deciding in that moment to accompany them.

"Could we interest you in a-" started Jack.

"No tour," Harry interrupted.

!!!!!

"With the System Lords dead, Anubis has had little difficulty in taking much of their territory. The goa'uld Nen, once under the rule of Olokun, has acquired much of Olokun's territory, and is standing against Anubis, as is Al'net, who has taken Ba'al's territory." Jacob was briefing the Tollan war council, with Harry and Sg-1 in attendance. In spite of the destruction of their base, the Tok'ra were still the greatest source of information on what was happening through the goa'uld civil war. "Lord Yu's first prime, Kong Bao Lie, believes that the System Lords were assassinated by Anubis, and leads his Jaffa against him for revenge. He has killed three goa'uld who have tried to take control from him."

Daniel spoke up. "What about the Jaffa rebellion? If Kong is fighting all goa'uld, it sounds like he's ready to join up."

"If they are still fighting in the name of a goa'uld," said First Officer Tellis, "then I don't see how they can be a part of the rebellion. Allies perhaps, but it seems to me that their two ideologies are too different."

"That is not completely true," said Teal'c. "Lord Yu's Jaffa never believed the goa'uld to be gods. It was their belief the goa'uld were powerful beings, and that Yu was a Holy being born among them. It is one reason that he remained in power for so long, none of the goa'uld beneath him could ever gain the support of his Jaffa. The rebellion is considering sending an emissary to Kong Lie."

"We have to consider that it is still possible for Kong Bao to find out that we were responsible for his master's death," said Jacob. No one had anything to say to that.

"How else have the deaths of the System Lords affected the rebellion?" asked Harry.

"There appear to be three groups that have formed out of the Jaffa who were loyal at the time of the assassination," Teal'c said. "There are those who believe that the unexplained deaths of the System Lords is a sign that the goa'uld are not true gods. There are many of them, but they are a minority. After them, there are those that see Anubis as a supreme being. Lastly, there are those who follow goa'uld that have taken the place of the goa'uld that they once served. Currently, the rebellion has nearly tripled in size, and we have acquired four Ha'tak ships in the past month."

"I am glad to hear of the rebellion's growth," said Narim. "Colonel, I would like to hear more about the incident that happened in your solar system recently."

"If by 'incident', you mean the near destruction of Earth…" said Jack. Narim inclined his head. "A week and a half ago, by some miracle, some novice astronomer noticed a massive asteroid headed for the Earth. We didn't know if those fancy weapon platforms you installed would do the trick, so we called in a favor with the Asgard. We also recovered the scout ship Jacob crashed on Revanna as a backup. Anyway, the Asgard decided that with the System Lords dead, the treaty wasn't really in effect. It took them a couple of days to get a ship free, but they came and diverted it. They also discovered that the Asteroid had a core of Naquedah, which doesn't occur in our solar system. If we had tried to blow it up on our own, we would have destroyed our planet just the same. Anyway, it seems like the whole thing was a goa'uld plot, probably Anubis."

"Dose this mean that the Asgard are ready to fight the goa'uld?" asked Tellis.

Daniel shook his head. "The Asgard's situation hasn't changed, they still have their own problems. Right now, they'll protect the planets all ready under their protection, but no one is going after them anyway. The goa'uld are too busy fighting each other."

"So what you are saying is that we cannot rely on the Asgard for anything," said Tellis.

"That sounds about right," said Jack.

"So," said Harry, "what did you do with the asteroid?"

"Do?" asked Jack.

"Yeah," said Harry, "you said the Asgard diverted it, so it's still in your solar system."

"Rapidly flying away from Earth," replied Jack, who was unsure of what Harry was getting at.

"Well, there's always a demand for naquedah, and asteroids with that kind of a concentration are rare. It would be easy to mine it."

"Seriously?" asked Daniel.

"Actually," said Jacob, "there was a war between a couple System Lords over an asteroid like that a couple thousand years ago. Funny story, they wound up killing each other, and they decimated their armies."

"And by 'funny story'," said Jack, "do you mean that no one will ever find evidence of Tok'ra involvement?"

Jacob shrugged. "Anyway, it's easier to pull an asteroid apart and take the pieces to a processing plant, than pulling small pieces out of the ground."

"Yeah," said Jack, "we're not exactly sure how to do all that."

"We can work something out," said Narim.

"We'll talk to our people," said Jack, "work out the details."

"As to the main purpose of this meeting," said Tellis, "I believe that we can all agree that it would be prudent to coordinate with each other our efforts against the goa'uld."

"To do that," said Jacob, "we first need to agree on our immediate objectives. We have all strived for the destruction of the goa'uld, but we are faced with a very delicate situation. We can see the realization of both our greatest hopes, and our greatest fears."

"Obviously, we must strike against Anubis, while his forces are spread," said one of the Tollans, whose name Harry had forgotten. Harry thought that he was singular among the Tollans in the room, in that he was openly motivated by revenge against Anubis.

"The Tollans only have three battle ships thus far capable of standing up against Anubis' technology. Two of them are devoted to the defense of your system, and the next three ships won't be complete until the next month. The Jaffa's Ha'taks can't stand up one-on-one against Anubis' ships, so that leaves us with my ship and your ship to do the bulk of the fighting. I don't think we'll win this by facing off with Anubis."

"We have the option of fighting along side Nen and Al'net," said Tellis.

Selmak spoke up for the first time. "One of the many reasons that the Tok'ra have never allied with one goa'uld against another, is that they can never be trusted, not unless you know that they want what you want more than anything else. If we ally with either of them, we may just find ourselves sold to Anubis for his favor."

"We don't have to destroy Anubis' fleets," said Jack. "We assassinate the guy, and boom, we've got even more chaos."

"Yeah," said Harry, "but how do you kill a spirit? I threw a ball of plasma at him, and he just laughed. I don't think we can take the fight to Anubis until we can figure out how to kill him."

"What do you propose?" asked the angry Tollan. "Shall we just ignore him, captain?"

Harry ignored him. "We learned about the American revolution in school." He looked at Jack. "You Yanks didn't always fight us head on, you'd take us from the side. Hit and run tactics, I think it was called."

"Guerilla fighting," supplied Sam. Jack muttered something about velociraptors; Harry still didn't understand what went through the man's head.

"Yeah," said Harry. "We don't need to do any of the hard work just yet, we can work in the shadows; sort of like what the Tok'ra do. If one faction looks like it's going to side with Anubis, we do something to mess up relations. We want to keep Anubis fighting other goa'uld for as long as possible, and on as many fronts as possible. We also don't want any one goa'uld to come out on top leading the fight against Anubis. We need to keep them against him for as long as possible, without letting them consolidate."

"Such a plan would rely heavily on the Jaffa rebellion," said Teal'c.

Jacob nodded. "With your resources, we could strike anywhere, and make it look like the work of any other goa'uld."

"And what role would the Tollan military play in this," asked Teal'c.

"Following such a plan," said Tellis, "there would not be much fighting that we would be a part of, aside from defense. We would be able to rescue allies in need, salvage failed operations, provide medical aide, and facilitate the faster transportation of Jaffa motherships. When the time is right, we would be able to strike against Anubis' motherships."

"Well," said Jack, "you guys have our résumés. Feel free to call if you need to sneak into something, or the like. We also blow stuff up."

"That's good to know," said Harry with a smile. "But there's something else for you to do, the Jaffa aren't used to fighting in the shadows. They can learn that from you."

"I'd be a walking cliché," said Jack.

"Huh?" said Harry.

"An American colonel teaching the natives how to rebel against an evil government."

Harry stared at him blankly.

"I guess you were too young to learn about that. Anyway, it seems like a reasonable plan."

"It would seem," said Narim, "that we all have much to discuss with our own peoples before we continue. We should meet again tomorrow, there are many details that must be taken care of."

The meeting adjourned. Harry knew that life was about to get a little bit uglier.

!!!!!

Three weeks later, Harry found himself on US territory for the first time in ten years. He had been at the Alpha Sight for five hours, and he still took comfort from his ship in orbit. He still wouldn't put it past Jack to try to ferry him off to Earth.

"I've told you as much about the android as I can, Sam," he said. "Unless you reactivate her, I won't be able to tell you anything else."

"Are you sure that it was built by the Ancients?"

It seemed that one of the SG teams had discovered the android girl on a desolate planet, and brought it back to Earth for Sam to reactivate. Everything had gone wrong when she started making Replicators. After disabling her, they had tried to contact the Asgard, knowing that the android could help in their war against the Replicators. The Asgard had not been available for contact though. That was how Harry found himself being asked to travel to the Alpha sight, to help divine answers from the android. The Tollans were unavailable for such a technical issue, as usual.

"She has the same feel as some of their technology that I've come across before, but at the same time, she isn't. She seems more advanced in some ways, and less in others."

"How do you mean?" asked Sam.

"I don't know," Harry answered, "it's like some kid's science experiment. Suppose a kid were building this in his garage. He has access to a lot of pre-fabricated parts, but some things he had to make himself, and he wasn't an expert."

"That could explain why Reese was so crazy."

"Well, I can't tell you anything about her programming. It only shares a little in common with what I got used to with the DHD. Again, the only way for me to find out more is to restore at least partial power to her."

"I still think that it's too dangerous. It would really be best if we let the Asgard do that. It was almost the end of us the last time she was awake."

"Well, what if we froze her first? I think we could slow her down enough to neutralize her, especially those nanites."

"We don't have the facilities to get her that cold. Could you do it?"

"Not easily, I'd have to put the heat somewhere. I've got an idea, we'll take her to the Tar'chell and take it into the planet's shadow. If we drop the shields and turn off the life support in a few sections of the ship, it should be the right temperature in only a few hours. Her motor functions would be very slow, and her nanites wouldn't work at all in those conditions."

"Would you need any protective gear for that environment, or can you manage it on your own?"

"I'll raise a shield and keep the air in there heated."

"I don't know, Harry, what if she gets out of your control somehow?"

Harry pondered her question, knowing that she had a point. From what she had told him about the Asgard, it seemed that they had their enemy in a similar situation. "Forget about the ship then, I'll just do it in space. I'll even power her myself; leave the power crystal down here."

"That could work," said Sam. "What about oxygen?"

"Oh, I've got a goa'uld breather."

"A what?"

"It's basically an CO2 scrubber. Usually, only the goa'uld themselves have them, so I'm not supprised you haven't come across one yet."

"Where did you get yours?"

"Do you really want to know, Sam?"

"Right, I suppose not. So you've been busy then?"

"Yeah, I have. There have been a couple of goa'uld who were going to try and join Anubis. One of them now thinks that Anubis tried to take one of his naquedah mines, and the other one died mysteriously, and Al'net has taken the territory now. Meanwhile, Nen has taken up a little too much power, so I've led a couple of raids with the rebel Jaffa in the name of a couple of the more powerful goa'uld under him."

"Oh, so only a little busy."

"Haha. If I hear a Jaffa refer to me as 'little tau'ri' again, I might just scream."

"It's better than 'human female,' said Sam. "Don't forget, most of them have come from heavily patriarchal societies, they're not used to taking lessons from humans, let alone women."

Harry laughed. "Thank God I was born a boy, or they'd never listen to me."

"Oh, you have no idea how right you are."

"Well, this ten year old is hungry. You up to some lunch Sam?"

"Sure, let me just save my work here." She glanced up at him. "You know, I keep on forgetting that you're ten now. We completely forgot your birthday, what, two months ago?"

"Something like that. What's the date? I haven't really been keeping track."

"October third, it's been a little more than two months."

"So, I'm really ten and one sixth years old. If you go by Earth's calendar."

"How does it feel? I wish we could have done something."

"It feels about the same as nine did, really. It's just a day."

"And when exactly has a birthday just been a day?" asked Sam.

"As long as I can remember, I suppose. You know, I only ever found out when my birthday was when I was seven. Before that, when I asked, it was always 'no time soon,' and I'd put off asking again till later. That lasted a few years, until I found my birth certificate. It's also how I found out my middle name."

"Well, we should change that," said Sam.

Harry shrugged, and let the conversation fall. He was surprised then, when Sam announced to Jack and Daniel that they were going to be celebrating his belated birthday.

"Wait, what?" said Harry.

"Excellent idea, Major," said Jack.

"Sounds like fun," said Daniel.

"I'd like to call attention back to my question," said Harry.

"No one likes a sour birthday boy, Harry," said Jack.

Five minutes later, Harry was trying not to smile as an old piece of cake, recovered from the kitchen, was brought to him, and a couple of airmen in the room held out lit lighters in front of him. Harry blew them out with a put upon expression on his face; he forgot to make a wish. He even graciously assented to eating the cake. The frivolity did not last long though.

An alarm went of, signifying that there had been an unscheduled off-world activation of the Stargate. A woman's voice came over the base's speakers. "Medical team to the gate room. I repeat, medical team to the gate room."

Jack glanced up at Harry. "You want to do your thing?"

Harry shrugged. "As long as I'm here." They left the commissary and hurried to the gate room. In all of the chaos caused by the goa'uld civil war, goa'uld devices were easier to get a hold of, and Harry had taken to carrying around a healing device. Injured soldiers and warriors were routinely redirected to the Tollans for healing, but not everyone survived long enough to make it.

Inside the gate room there was a group of over twenty Jaffa, along with three of the members of SG-7 who were dressed as Jaffa as well. Major Canfield was telling the base commander what had happened, while nursing a broken arm. Harry ignored all of this, and walked over to where the Jaffa in critical condition were being tended to. In the background, the Stargate activated once more, opening an outgoing wormhole to Tollana. The all ready triaged Jaffa and one SG member started through. Thankfully, most were under their own power.

Harry slipped on his healing device and approached one of the medics. "Where do you need me?" he asked.

The man pointed to one of the Jaffa. "He took a staff blast to his symbiote pouch, and a stab wound to the shoulder."

Harry nodded. "Focus on the bleeding. We will need to get him through as soon as possible, I can only slow a death from the symbiotes toxins. You have removed it?"

"We have."

Harry held the healing device out over the Jaffa's burnt symbiote pouch and activated it as another medic continued working on the wound to the shoulder. Through the hand device, Harry found that there was also intestinal damage. He focused on healing the physical wound as best as he could before he turned his attention to staving off the effects of the toxin.

A few minutes later, he was finished. "I have done what I can," he said. "I don't know what the Tollans can do to for his immune system, without a symbiote." Meanwhile, the other two Jaffa had been moved through the gate.

The technician who had originally directed him answered him. "I heard that they're keeping guys like him in isolation until a replacement symbiote is found."

Harry winced. "I can't imagine them not going crazy."

"Better the Tollans than us," the medic agreed.

The man insisted on shaking his hand before Harry walked over to where Jack was talking to the base commander, Colonel Grant.

"So," he said, "what happened?"

Colonel Grant looked down at him. "I don't think that it would be appropriate to discuss that with you."

Jack rolled his eyes. "The Tollans tell him everything anyway."

Harry prompted the base commander. "The Jaffa had infiltrated Entol and Ranest's ranks, knowing that the two were planning to join Anubis with their collective five worlds, and two Ha'taks. SG-7 was supposed to slip in among Anubis' ranks. They were supposed to fire on each other, so that both sides would think that the other had started the fighting." Harry didn't bother to go into the intricacies of the plan. Anubis was to assume that Entol and Ranest were working on the behalf of a stronger goa'uld, while it was also to be assumed that Anubis' apparent attack was a show of force.

Colonel Grant grunted and answered him. "Someone ratted them out. Everyone was in place, when the enemy Jaffa turned on them."

"We have a spy in our ranks," Harry clarified.

"It seems like it," said Colonel Grant. "It's most likely a rebel Jaffa who was less than sincere when he enlisted."

Harry thought that that was the most likely explanation, but still said. "It could have been any of us, even one of your guys." Sensing that that conversation was better left for another time, he changed the subject. "How did they escape?" asked Harry.

"Deus ex machina," said Jack.

"More like animals," said Grant. "There was a horse stampede."

Realization struck Harry. "Entol and Ranest had been under Svarog, the only system lord to mount his elite Jaffa on horses. The others thought he was a joke, but he held onto his territory. Why did the horses stampede?"

"The major wasn't sure, but he said that he thought that the Rebels had something to do with it," said Jack, "some sort of contingency plan."

Harry asked the question he had been avoiding. "Who didn't come back?"

Jack answered. "We lost Doctor Arkin. Next to Daniel, he was our foremost expert in Goa'uld. The Jaffa came back three short, and we lost another before you got here."

Harry hesitated before asking his next question, trying to find a tactful way of asking it. Jack noticed.

"Something you want to say?"

"I'm sorry about the Doctor. I guess, what I wanted to know is: is there confirmation on memory destruction?"

The two men looked at him askance. "You want to know if they can be revived and questioned," said Grant, deciphering his words.

"Basically," said Harry uncomfortably.

"The major saw the Doctor take a hit to the chest. We don't know anything about the Jaffa."

"Then time is of the essence. Anubis is clever enough to take the time to revive them."

"What do you suggest?" asked Jack.

"I'm going to go to Tollana, talk this over with them."

Colonel Grant nodded. "Alright. Long way or short way?"

"I would appreciate it if you dialed the gate for me."

The colonel nodded and motioned to the people in the room above the gate room. "Dial Tollana."

The inner ring of the Stargate started turning. Harry checked that they were not the coordinates for Earth. Satisfied that the gate would take him to Tollana, he connected to his ship through his hand device and commanded it to travel to the planet without him.

Harry turned to Jack. "Sam has a proposal for the General in regards to the android. You can tell the Tollans if he agrees."

"All right then. Keep us apprised of the situation on your end."

Harry nodded and walked to the Stargate. Before he could step through, Jack called after him, "Happy birthday!"

!!!!!

"What do we know?" Harry asked First Officer Tellis. He was with the man in his office. He had told the man about the situation, though he was sure that he all ready knew about the failed mission.

"As you know Captain Potter, the Tok'ra have only one operative under Anubis, and he does not have an influential position. If Anubis is planning to revive the dead left behind, we will be unable to find out where it will be."

"He had a Ha'tak in orbit at the time of the battle, it's possible that they are still there."

"Maybe," said Tellis. "But I would suggest also trying his hold at Kallib. He has taken prisoners there before."

"I'll keep that in mind. Anyway, I figured that I could go in alone and try to pull them out with stealth."

Tellis nodded. "I will speak to Narim and propose that we send a ship as backup. You could signal us if you need help."

Harry nodded. "I'd also like to requisition some technology."

"The same as what you asked for when you captured Ammit?" asked Tellis. Harry nodded. "I can approve that."

"Thank you," said Harry. He was nervous about the upcoming mission. The last time he had faced Anubis, he had come out on top, but the very nature of the being Anubis scared Harry in a very primal way. Anubis had sacrificed everything for immortality and power, and now he was a devil. It was all the worse because Harry had no idea how he could possibly kill Anubis. He didn't know if anyone could.

"When does your ship arrive?"

"Less than an hour from now."

"I see," said Tellis. "I will get you the items you need. I hope that you succeed."

"Thanks."

"Don't forget: the SG member at least may know where our planet is. If he reveals us, then we will find out soon enough whether our defenses are adequate."

"With any luck, Commander, Tollana will stay in the shadows for a while yet."

!!!!!

Harry was in luck; the Ha'tak was still in orbit around the planet. Obviously, Anubis was not expecting a rescue attempt. Harry took his ship to a position 25,000,000 miles away from the Ha'tak, on the other side of the planet from it. He estimated that it would take at least five minutes for either the Ha'tak or its death gliders to get within weapons range of the Tar'Chell. Checking to make sure that he had everything that he wanted, Harry opened a hyperspace window and disappeared onto the Ha'tak.

As soon as he rematerialized in one of the Ha'tak's storerooms, alarms went off, signaling an intruder. Harry looked up and let out a frustrated, "Bother!" He did not know if Anubis had set the ship to pick up his hyperspace window, or if the internal sensors had been upgraded to pick up his life-sign. Looking around the room, he saw the wall panel that was hiding an information relay. His gate-builder shield still raised, Harry crossed over to it and, with a mental command, tore it from the wall. He grasped the relay and pushed his magic into it, pulling the information he wanted forward. The ship's schematic flashed into his mind, and he tried to find the most likely location for an interrogation.

He was so engrossed in what he was doing that the five staff blasts that hit his shield in the back took him completely by surprise. There was enough kinetic energy to force him against the wall, and not for the first time, he broke his nose. Shaken, Harry threw a large ball of fire at the Jaffa behind him. It had too little force behind it to do any real damage, but it distracted the Jaffa enough to give Harry the time to activate the phase shifting device and push through the wall. Anubis had obviously prepared for such a move, as there were ten Jaffa waiting for him there, all with their staff weapons pointed at him.

"Surrender!" said one Jaffa.

"**Never!" **cried Harry. They all fired at him, but this time, the bolts all flew through him. In spite of having just seen him walk through a wall, they clearly had not expected the weapons of their god to fail to even touch him. Harry still did not feel up to dematerializing himself after his impact with the wall, and so he resolved himself to a fight. He shook his head and switched the phase shift for his shield, Harry raised his hand device and pushed out a wave of energy, slamming five of them into the wall. He avoided a staff blast and let off another wave at three of the other Jaffa as he threw plasma at another. He stepped back as the last Jaffa landed a hit on his shield. Pushing energy into his legs, Harry leapt into the lone standing Jaffa, slamming his head against the wall. As a few of the Jaffa struggled to get to their feet, Harry regained his equilibrium enough to shoot down a few corridors, before he felt well enough to open a hyperspace window to the Tar'Chell.

Aboard his ship, Harry wiped the blood off his face as he did his best to slow the blood flow. Through his hand device, Harry checked to see if the Ha'tak had appeared on his sensors. Indeed, the Ha'tak was moving to intercept him; it had all ready rounded the planet. As expected, Anubis had checked the planet's blind spot for his ship. Harry set the Tar'Chell to move away from the Ha'tak, fast enough to keep it out of weapon's range for another four minutes.

Harry had found four brigs on the ship's schematics and two rooms that he thought could be used for interrogation. He checked the brigs first. The first was empty, but the second he appeared in held a dead Jaffa. Harry removed the body to the Tar'Chell. The next two brigs were empty, but they were waiting for him at the last. His shield took seven staff blasts, but he managed to avoid another head injury before he disappeared back to his ship. He jumped back to the Ha'tak, into one of the possible interrogation rooms; it was empty. The next room was anything but. The Doctor was there, strapped to a table in the middle of the room, and obviously barely conscious. There were ten Jaffa in the doorway in front of him, and ten Jaffa lined up against the wall to his side. Knowing that his shield wouldn't be able to stand up to twenty Jaffa, Harry switched his shield for the phase shift device. He walked over to the Doctor, but mid-way there, a pain in his head told him that his body had been out of phase for too long. Harry ran the rest of the way to the table and ducked behind it before bringing himself back into phase. He closed his eyes and compacted the air around his ears before slamming his hands together, producing the flash bang effect. The doctor cried out above him. While the Jaffa were disoriented, he stood up and latched onto the doctor. He jumped back to the Tar'Chell with the man.

His head was pounding by then, and he knew that he would need to see one of the Tollan doctors. He had been warned that the phase shifting device triggered a degenerative disorder when used for too long which, when left untreated, could paralyze a person. Fortunately, that took a while. He looked down at the man, and saw that he had left the man's shoes behind; not too bad.

"What, what's going on?" The Doctor stared around unseeingly. Harry realized that the Doctor had been affected by the flash bang as well. He raised his voice.

"It's me, Harry Potter. You're on my ship."

The man's eyes widened, and he managed to grasp Harry's arm."Harry, you have to tell them, Anubis knows everything that I know."

Harry tried to keep things calm, for the doctor's sake, though he still had to raise his voice. "He can't know everything you know. I'm sure you still have a few secrets in you. Don't worry, you can tell the rest of your team whatever he found out later. They all made it back okay."

The doctor shook his head. "He put a device in my head. Everything that's me is in his ship. He knows everything I know, and when we leave, my mind will be left behind."

"No," said Harry, feeling more unsure of what to do than he ever had before.

The ship warned him that Anubis was just barely within weapons range, and the ship vibrated as, moments later, the ship was grazed by a shot.

"Go," said the Doctor. "There's nothing you can do for me."

"I can fight," said Harry defiantly. "I'll cripple his ship, figure something out."

Harry turned to the control center behind him, and brought the Tar'Chell to face Anubis' ship. He had defeated one of Anubis' Ha'taks, and he knew that he could do it again. The two ships quickly closed in on each other. Harry kept his distance, knowing that his ship was more maneuverable. He could land more hits on Anubis from a distance than Anubis on him. Both ships began to take damage, though Harry's shields were holding up well.

Three miles away from the Tar'Chell, death gliders began to pour out of the Ha'tak. They were on him within a minute. There were too many of them to out maneuver, and Harry could only shoot down one at a time while still firing on Anubis. Their collective firepower did little against his shields, but they still interfered with his ability to fight the Ha'tak. Harry thought that he could still get the upper hand against Anubis, until three other Ha'taks dropped out of hyperspace and started firing upon him.

Harry cursed. Even he couldn't take that many ships. He started losing secondary systems, and his shield strength began to drop. In the next instant though, the Tollan battleship, which had been monitoring the situation, dropped out of hyperspace between Harry and the four Ha'taks.

A Tollan captain appeared on screen. "Captain," the man addressed him. "Now is not the time to demonstrate our new weapons."

Harry nodded tersely. With his ship all ready damaged, they couldn't take on the Ha'tak without using the Tollan's new phase shifting weapons. Behind him, the Doctor spoke up.

"Go," was all he said.

Harry ended the transmission, closed his eyes, and jumped into hyperspace.

A/N: I am sorry for the delay in updating. Life, school, and grad-school applications rather hijacked my life. Hopefully, I'll be updating more frequently from here on out. Point of interest: some of my more recent writing has been written under the influence of a concussion.

As you all have probably noticed, I update both of my stories at the same time. For future reference, I was wondering if you would rather I update one during and future dry-spells, rather than waiting for both.

Please read and review!


	7. 07 Reprieve

Disclaimer: If I owned this, then Harry Potter and Isis' Bane would have a place on IMDB. Any casting idea's for any of the original characters? How about director?

A/N: Please note, I have added to the beginning of this chapter, since the original posting date. This is now the chapter, as it was meant to be.

Reprieve

High up in his study at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore dove once more into his pensieve. It had been a little over a year ago that he had retrieved the memory of Harry's abduction from Vernon Dursley. Of course, he had not been proud of the methods that he had employed to retrieve the memory, but considering both the man's crimes, and the necessity of finding young Harry, the decision had been clear to him. He had been through the memory many times since then, though he had long since stopped seeing anything new within. He had noticed the strange blue light that had nearly incapacitated one of the fugitives on his first viewing (some manner of electric stun weapon, he supposed); the strange glow of Harry's eyes the third time; then there was what seemed to be some kind of creature, passing between the man's mouth and Harry's during the sixth.

Watching Harry's movements both before and after the incident, it soon became clear that the boy had been possessed by whatever creature it was that had taken him. But for the boy's blood protection, Albus would have assumed that the being was some incarnation of Voldemort. However, he knew that Voldemort could find no refuge within Harry. Over a year later, he was no closer to determining what it was that had taken Harry. There had been countless hours spent on research, trying to find some kind of magical animal that could perform such a feat, to no avail. All that their diplomatic enquiries had turned up was that the two possessed individuals, Sarah and Steven, had managed to defraud the US Air Force. It was almost as though Harry had been taken by happenstance, but that was highly unlikely.

This was his twenty-third viewing of the memory, and he watched it from beginning to end. He saw nothing new this time, though he had not expected to. He had denied Harry a chance for a happy childhood (apparently, adequate had been off the table as well), but he vowed to give the boy his life back. Even if Voldemort's spirit were to float into his office at that moment, and announce that it was moving on to the afterlife, Albus would still search; he owed the boy that much.

!!!!!

Sirius would have been lost without his years as a prankster. The years learning to be an auror had been of some benefit as well. Based on the Colonel's answers whilst under the effects of Veritaserum, Sirius knew that the best chance he had of leaving the planet was through the space ship. He knew of the small things that they were now mass-producing, but there was no way for him to stow away on something like that. It was the big ship that he had to find. That was why he was glad for the skills that he had accumulated over the years. It was what had led him first to Area 51, and now to the underground construction site of what was called the Prometheus.

From what he had pieced together, the ship was not supposed to be ready for a few more months. He had been tempted to just sneak aboard and wait for lift off; he would have had to sustain himself off of putrid nutrition potions. But he knew that there was too much of a chance of discovery. So he acquired a wizarding tent, warded it, and set up camp hidden right next to the compound. Now, all he had to do was wait.

!!!!!

The unfortunate Doctor had made it to Tollana alive, but as the man had predicted, his mind had not made the trip with them. While all of the lower brain functions, like breathing, were still in tact, there was nothing left of what it was that made him Doctor Arkin. Eventually, they had been resigned to sending the man back to the SGC, after removing the device from his head for study. Harry tried not to show it to his allies, but he remained upset over his failure to rescue the man, regardless of the fact that the man had all ready been dead.

Two days after he had returned, five motherships had dropped out of hyperspace around Tollana, confirming Doctor Arkin's belief that Anubis would be able to access the information from his mind. The incident was accompanied by the odd feeling that it was somehow anti-climatic. Five ships came, one ship barely escaped, and four exploded spectacularly. The Tollan's new weapons worked exactly as they had expected them to. They could only wonder if, and when, Anubis would be able to counteract their ability to bypass his shields. In the mean time, Harry still spent his time helping to coordinate the efforts to undermine Anubis' conquest of the Galaxy. Unfortunately, the demon was slowly winning. As things stood, it looked like it would be inevitable for Nen to give in to Anubis. In the mean time, Kong was fighting a losing battle. Still, Harry found the time to work with a couple Tollan scientists to come up with a strategy to save the next Doctor Arkin; whoever that would be.

During Harry's first space walk, there were two F-302s watching over him. Of course, they were not so much interested in Harry as they were in the unstable android that he was working on. It had been a week since his mission against Anubis, and with no contact from the Asgard, the SGC had given its permission to proceed with Harry's proposal. The F-302s were an added detail, insisted upon by the General. They both were armed with impressive warheads, incase of the worst-case scenario of Reese unleashing Replicators on the Alpha Site. The precaution was unnecessary, seeing as Reese couldn't move and had nothing with which to create a Replicator, but apparently the two fighters made people a little less nervous about everything.

Having better control over it, Harry was encased in the shield from his hand device, which did a very good job of keeping air around Harry in the vacuum of space. It also kept the heat in, preventing him from quickly freezing to death. Reese was in front of him, the moisture that had been on her body had frozen before in a flash when she had been exposed to the vacuum. Harry pushed his energy into her, accessing the power distribution center, around where the power crystal should have gone.

He fed power into the pathway leading to her mind, which had been closely patterned after the human brain. Complete chaos overwhelmed him, and Harry did the equivalent of a jump in the zero gravity environment. It lasted only for the moment it took for him to separate his mind once more from Reese's. One of the pilots, Harry was not sure which, called him over his radio.

"Everything all right? Over."

"Yeah," said Harry breathlessly, pulling the breather out of his mouth to speak. He took a moment to calm his racing heart. "Her head just isn't the greatest place to be in."

"Copy that. If she does anything, just pop out of there and we'll deal with it."

Harry did remember that part of the plan. "I'll keep that in mind. Thank you." He shook his head and pushed his awareness back into Reese's mind, this time he only stuck in a metaphorical finger. He cast out a tentative 'hello' out into her mind. Harry and Sam had debated over whether or not Harry would be able to communicate with the Android, but just in case, Daniel had briefed him on the android. Harry's stolen knowledge gave him everything else he needed to know; the goa'uld did not just torture to get information.

An answer came back weakly. "What's going on?"

Harry sighed in relief. This could make things much simpler. "You're in outer space Reese."

"Why isn't there anything? It's just me and you. Where are you, who are you?"

"My name's Harry, and you're only getting enough energy to power your mind. Nothing else works."

"I don't understand. Why?"

"We realized that you stopped the Replicators, just before Jack shot you. I know that you don't want to hurt anyone."

"You're right, I don't. I'm scared right now."

Could she really be? Harry could not tell if she actually was capable of emotions. Still, their plan rested on her being like a real person.

"I don't want you to be scared Reese. It's just that, even though they know you don't want to hurt anyone, they're still scared that you will."

"I won't, I promise. I'm a good girl."

"They're still so scared though. A lot of them want to just leave you turned off. Daniel doesn't want that though, and neither do I."

"You mean Daniel still likes me?"

"He does. He wishes he could talk to you, but the others won't let him, and they're stronger than he is. I'll tell you what. Just between you and me, I could turn your eyes on again."

"Oh please. It's so empty."

Harry directed the energy through the proper pathways.

"We are in space," she said. Though there was very little capability for inflection in her mind, Harry could tell that she was surprised.

"I didn't lie," he said. "We need to talk, Reese. Like I said, the others are scared."

"I don't want to talk about this."

"But you have to. It's all that I can talk to you about. Otherwise, I'd have to go away, and you would be turned off again."

"But why?"

"Because there is a way I could save you if you help us."

"You mean you can turn all of me on?"

"I'm not going to lie to you, Reese. That's not going to happen. I'm not able to do that. But I can have you downloaded into a virtual reality. There would be so many fun things there, and no one would be afraid. People could come and visit you if they wanted."

"Could my Daddy be there too?"

"He could, Reese."

"I want that. I want to be happy again. I don't care if it's not real, it doesn't matter."

"That's good, Reese. Now to get that, we need to talk about your toys."

"I didn't mean for them to be so mean. What happened isn't my fault."

"I know, Reese. They were just supposed to be toys. They aren't even listening to you anymore."

"Then what could I do? I don't want to be turned off."

"You need to think. Now's your opportunity to do something good. Is there still some influence you might have over the rest of the Replicators? Maybe you know of a weakness that they have?"

"I'm thinking, but I don't know."

Harry got a strong feeling from her. She was desperate. "Reese, think about how you created them. They were awfully clever, weren't they? You must have been clever to make them."

"I was. I'm very clever. Did you know that I know everything my Daddy had on his computers?"

"Is that how you knew how to build the Replicators?"

"That's where I got the idea, but I made them big, so that I could play with them."

"Did you give them any weaknesses? Think about how you made them."

"I don't know. This is hard. Do I have to do this?"

"You do need to think Reese, because I need to go home soon."

"I should just make them all come home. I bet that they'd wake me up. Oh, if I could only reach them."

Harry stared at her. "You could make them come to you?"

"Well of course I can. They wouldn't be very good toys if I couldn't do that."

"That's the answer I'm looking for Reese. Show me how your mind does that, and I'll be able to help you."

"You mean that?"

"Of course I do. You deserve it."

"Okay. But I don't know how to show you."

"That's okay, Reese. I'll do all of the hard work."

!!!!!

A quarter of an hour later, after Harry had transferred Reese back to the base below and had a chance to go over the information he had retrieved, Harry sat aboard the Tar'Chell while he had a video conference with General Hammond and SG-1 via the Alpha Site's Stargate.

"Basically, all the Asgard need to do is broadcast that signal across their galaxy, and they'll be able to gather all of the Replicators in one place. After that, I figure that they could think of something to do with all of them."

"How are they going to isolate the signal they need?" asked Sam.

"They won't," said Harry. "All of the data they need is on a crystal I tucked into her shirt pocket."

"You mean that they don't actually need the robot?" asked Jack.

"You aren't planning on giving her to them?" returned Harry.

"It's still an impressive piece of technology," said Jack. "If they don't need it…"

"They don't," said Harry, "all they need is the crystal."

"That's good work, son," said the General, "this may very well be the salvation of more than one galaxy."

Harry shrugged sheepishly. "It wasn't that much work," he said. "I sort of cheated with my magic."

Sam rolled her eyes at the term.

"Cheated?" asked the General.

"Yeah," said Harry. "Her code is very hard to manipulate; sort of like the DHD, but not really. It's obvious though, that her creator didn't really want her to be tampered with. Anyway, I don't know if even the Asgard would have been able to separate out the data. They probably would have had to use Reese as the bait."

"I see," said the General.

"By the way," said Harry. "You know I never did find out if you guys really do have a way to put Reese in a virtual reality."

"As it stands, Harry," said Sam, "we don't really. We don't really have the computer technology or the programming finesse to do something like that."

"Oh," said Harry. "I was sort of hoping to keep that promise. I mean, she did pull through for us, even if she's still sort of crazy."

"Sort of?" asked Jack.

"What of the Keeper?" asked Teal'c.

"Who?" asked Harry.

"The Keeper," said Daniel, "is a man we found on a planet that had suffered an environmental disaster millennia ago. He and his people all went into stasis to survive, and their minds went on to exist in a virtual reality. They're awake now, since we let them know that their planet had recovered. You could check them out."

"Oh," said Harry, "send me the address?"

"Sure," said Sam. She entered a few commands into her computer, and moments later Harry received the data.

"Thanks," he said. "Well, if that's all, I've got a meeting with the some Jaffa I need to get to."

"That should be all," said the General. "Stay safe."

Harry nodded and said his goodbyes. A minute later, he was traveling through hyperspace.

!!!!!

"It is very frustrating," said General Hammond, "that every time we have dealings with that boy, we must watch as he then goes to place himself in more dangerous situations."

"I agree with you sir," said Sam, "but it's not as though we have a choice in the matter. I mean, even if we did manage to get him to Earth, and away from his ship, we would have a hard time keeping him here. We can only have control over him if he wants us to, and he doesn't." It was something she had thought often on. She had grown close to Harry, and it was hard on her, not knowing if he was all right or not.

"I'm still not convinced that he has any clue what he wants," said Jack. "Destroying the goa'uld isn't much of a life goal."

"On the contrary," said Teal'c, "it is a most worthy goal. However the battlefield is no place for a boy his age."

"And what would be a good age for a boy to be on a battlefield?" asked Jack.

The General cleared his throat and changed the subject. "Major, as long as we are here, I would like you to give us your update on the Prometheus hyperdrive."

Glad to get onto a more upbeat topic, Sam gave her report. "As we discussed before, the hyperdrive itself is complete, though it's still in the process of being installed. Doctor Grahm's targeting program from the F-302s is still being altered for the Prometheus, but it looks good. Area 51 has picked it up, and it's being run on their computers. Assuming that there aren't any problems, they're estimating that they can upload it by the end of the month. The rest of the software has all ready been installed. Now as you will all remember," she glanced over at Jack, who may not have been listening, "the hyperdrive is the last major component to be installed. We think we should be able to launch in two months, and leave the solar system in three."

"Well now," said the General, "that is good news. You still haven't told us how her speed is going to compare to the goa'uld though."

"That's because we really don't know," she said.

"What," said Daniel, "no best guess?"

"It's the same problem we had with the X-302s. Our computers can't account for all of the variables at the same time; we keep on getting different answers from the simulators. Until we actually do a test run, we're not going to be able to say empirically one way or another."

"So forget empiricism," said Jack. She gave him a look that said that one does not simply forget something like empiricism.

"Major," prompted the General.

"Well," she said, "giving that we are using a very powerful power source, and that we are able to funnel it efficiently into the hyperdrive, I would be cautiously optimistic. However," she waffled, "we don't know yet how efficiently the hyperdrive will be able to use the power."

"That sounds ambiguous enough to form a betting pool," said Daniel.

Sam looked skyward. "We all ready have one," she admitted.

!!!!!

Harry found that he quite liked working with Lieutenant Elliot. For a while, it had been difficult for Harry to be around any Tok'ra. He was always tense and ready for anything when he had to share a room with any of them. But after a couple of months working around so many Jaffa, and the odd Tok'ra, it had become much easier for him to treat them like he did everyone else. Both Elliot and Lantash were very nice people to work with, and Harry found himself laughing a lot more than he had ever been used to.

Tok'ra intelligence, very limited from within Anubis' ranks, had finally acquired a useful piece of information. The goa'uld scientist Ton'ett, formerly under the protection of Bastet, had stayed out of the fighting completely, obviously waiting for someone to come out on top. Anubis meant to acquire her services by force. The plan was to stage a kidnapping plot against her, with the hopes of pushing her to one of the other goa'uld factions, while also robbing her blind. If everything went according to plan, this would also be a perfect opportunity to ambush one of Anubis' ships, and hopefully steal it. That would be a joint Tollan and Jaffa venture, but the mission against Ton'ett required subtlety, which was why Harry and Elliot were going.

Since their blending, the Lieutenant had been in a kind of limbo. Being that Elliot and Lantash were sworn to the US Air Force and the Tok'ra respectively, neither side had quite decided what they wanted to do with him. Since Harry was seen as a neutral party in the matter, no side was seen as giving anything up by assigning him to the mission.

With plans for Ton'ett's base available from the Tok'ra, they had quickly been able to formulate a plan. The last couple of days had been spent ironing out the details aboard the Tar'Chell, as they flew to the opposite side of the galaxy. The night before the assault (according to the ships time), they feasted on hamburgers and played an odd card game that Lantash had learned over a millennium ago. He grew frustrated when Harry quickly learned the game and began to soundly beat him every round. Finally though, the ship warned Harry that it was about to drop out of hyperspace.

Harry turned to Elliot. "It's time," he said.

Elliot nodded, turning at once from friend to soldier. They made their way into the control room. Harry took the helm and Elliot took the weapons. As they had expected, there was an al'kesh guarding the base. Ignoring the ship's hail, they attacked. Harry was able to dodge incoming weapons fire, and Elliot quickly took out the ship's weapons and sub-light engines. According to the plan, he only damaged the other ship's hyperdrive, leaving it capable of repairs.

Below them, Harry knew that the gate would have been opened from the SGC, preventing escape for the moment. With the other ship disabled, they interposed the Tar'Chell between it and the planet, preventing escape to the ship through ring transport. That done, Harry grabbed a hold of Elliot and jumped the both of them down to the base below them, They nodded to each other and, each knowing what to do, they went in separate directions.

Harry made his way to Ton'ett's laboratory, only having to disable a few Jaffa on the way. The lab's security was easily bypassed, and Harry made his way to the computer in the center of the room. He inserted two large crystals into available ports, and ordered the computer to begin the transfer of all data onto both of them. With that in progress, Harry went around the room, sensing all of Ton'ett's projects in turn with his magic, determining which were capable of being moved. That done, he gathered everything transportable into one spot of the room. He took care that they would fit on a ring platform. All ready on the top floor, Harry had an easy time blasting a hole in the ceiling, opening the room to the bright sky above.

As planned, Elliot had all ready disabled the shields around the facility. It took considerable effort for Harry to transport everything he had gathered, but he managed to send everything up to the Tar'Chell's ring platform. Instead of just air replacing the objects though, the moderately sized explosive device that Harry had left on the platform was left on the floor. He retrieved the two crystals and left the room. Once he was a safe distance away, he activated the explosive. The shock wave was impressive.

Two levels down, he met Elliot by Ton'ett's quarters. There were four Jaffa dead on the ground. Staff wounds hid the true nature of their deaths. Harry grimaced at the sight, but it was a part of the plan.

"Any problems?" Harry asked him.

"None," Elliot replied. "You?"

"It went fine." Harry lifted his hand to the ceiling, and blasted through the two floors and the roof between them and the outside world. He jumped back onto the Tar'Chell, and moved the loot off the ring platform. From stasis, he pulled the bodies of four Jaffa, all bearing Anubis' mark, and one goa'uld. They had been killed in various battles, and saved for just such a purpose. He placed them onto the platform and shot down to the planet before directing the transfer from the ship. He and Elliot quickly arranged the bodies, and Harry slipped one of the crystals into the robe of the goa'uld, so that it was sticking out obviously. Everything ready, he did not waste any time in grabbing Elliot and jumping back to the Tar'Chell.

"How much longer?" Harry asked Elliot.

"**The bases shields will reactivate shortly**," answered Lantash.

Harry watched on the ships sensors, waiting for the energy field to reform. He cast the scanners back to the al'kesh. Their hyperdrive had been repaired; the loyal Jaffa on board were waiting for a chance to rescue their mistress.

"Okay," said Harry. "Now we'll see whether or not Ton'ett will be able to do her part." He started to move the Tar'Chell out from between the al'kesh and the base.

"Have you decided yet, which you would rather?" asked Elliot.

Harry shrugged. "I'll be happy either way." Of course, their plan included Ton'ett escaping to join the fight against Anubis, but Harry wouldn't lose any sleep if she were unable to escape her base.

Harry opened fire on the ground, the bases shields swallowing the blasts. A few seconds later, a golden line connected the al'kesh and the rapidly crumbling base bellow. Harry brought the Tar'Chell around, now ignoring the base. He fired a shot off the al'kesh's bow, moments before it leapt into hyperspace.

Harry turned to Elliot and gave him a small smile. "Well that went well," he said.

"We haven't gotten to the hard part yet," said Elliot.

Harry nodded and activated the communications system. He first sent a quick message to the SGC, confirming the completion of the mission, before opening a link to one of the Tollan battle ships waiting just outside of the solar system. The face of a Tollan officer appeared before Harry and Elliot.

"Captain Potter," the man greeted him, "I trust that your mission was a success."

"It was. Ton'ett has fled the system, and with luck she will go to ally with one faction or another."

"We will be there shortly. I will not delay you in the completion of your mission."

Harry nodded. "I will return before the battle." He ended the communication and turned to Elliot. "Shall we?" Elliot inclined his head and they walked to the cargo area.

"Did you get anything good?" asked Elliot.

"It's hard to say," said Harry. "I only had a quick glance at everything. I think most of it is just improvements on current technology. Her computer data may well be more important that anything we pilfered."

"Whoa, whoa," said Elliot. "For the record, it was you who started a life of crime with that pilfering. I was doing the respectable work of a soldier."

Harry snorted. "And what do you call lowering the shield for me?"

"That clearly benefited my goals in the plan. That you used the opportunity to steal can't be blamed on me."

"It was your idea to empty the lab," Harry rebutted.

"Now you've graduated to defamation of character."

"More like the corruption of minors."

Elliot harrumphed. "Don't remind me. I still prefer to think of you as a midget."

"Oy!"

"You are rather small for your age."

They reached the cargo area, and Harry started directing the loot back onto the ring platform.

"Just you wait until I start having growth spurts," said Harry. "Not that I can't kick your butt now, but there'll be a day when I can tower over you while doing it."

"You'll be lucky if you ever match Captain Cameron," said Elliot dismissively.

Harry cast his mind to remember who Captain Cameron was, remembering her to be the smallest person he had seen at the Alpha Sight. "Now you're just being mean," he said. He smiled inwardly though, noticing that Elliot did not refute the claim that Harry could beat him in a physical fight. They both already knew it to be truth.

With a mental command, Harry sent the items down to the platform by the planet's Stargate. He grabbed on to Elliot and jumped down in front of the Stargate.

"You know," said Elliot as he dialed the now inactive gate, "you would think that with super powers, you wouldn't be hung up on size."

"Surprisingly enough," said Harry, "super powers don't carry as much weight as you would think. Take the Jaffa for instance, if I were taller-"

"**You mean older**," interrupted Lantash. "**You mustn't confuse the two**."

"We'll see," said Harry.

Elliot sent his IDC and radioed through. "SGC, this is Lieutenant Elliot. We're sending through the goods now. Be prepared to receive on the left. How fast do you want this?"

"Receipt of stolen goods," said Harry, referring to their earlier discussion. Someone's voice came over the radio from the other end. "One object every ten seconds."

Harry started levitating objects through the Stargate.

Sam's voice came over the radio. "Lieutenant Elliot," she said. "we need you to come through immediately. Your expertise with a hand device is required."

Elliot nodded, though she couldn't see him. He turned to Harry. "Until next time," he said.

"Later," said Harry. "Good luck."

"To you as well." Elliot walked through the Stargate.

Harry walked over to the MALP that had been sent through after hearing of his success. "Sam?" he said to the camera. "What's going on?"

"It's Daniel," her voice replied, "he was exposed to over seven grays of neutron radiation. Eight or nine in the hands."

"I don't know how much that is," said Harry.

"A gray is the absorption of one joule of energy per kilogram of matter."

"Right, okay. That's bad. How long ago was he exposed?"

"We got back just before your mission started, so just over half an hour since exposure, he's just started to display symptoms."

"That's not too bad, then. Daniel isn't going to be going anywhere, anytime soon, but it's good you got him help so soon, before the real damage occurs. He might still need a bone marrow transplant; without a sarcophagus, it can't be regenerated."

"How complete of a recovery would this be? Will he ever be fit to go through the gate again?" she asked.

"Elliot would be able to tell you for sure," said Harry. "At best, Daniel might be back out here in a couple months. At worst…" he trailed off.

"I get it," said Sam. "I've got to go. Thanks, Harry."

"Yeah," said Harry. "I hope Daniel gets well soon."

"Me too."

Harry went back to directing the last few objects through the gate. As he did so, he worried about his archeologist friend. He didn't know the man very well, but Daniel had always been nice to him. Harry had always felt guilty for his role in taking Sarah off Earth, and often wondered at Daniels ability to forgive him for it. He hoped that he would be able to forgive himself for what he had done, one day. There was still so much for him to do.

When he finished sending the technology through, Harry returned to the Tar'Chell. Having tired himself out, he used the ring platform. Back aboard his ship, Harry set about copying and reviewing the data that he had pilfered. It would be a couple of days until Anubis was expected to show up, so Harry had some time to kill before then. It wasn't long before he began to miss the company of Elliot and Lantash.

!!!!!

Word reached them six days into their wait that Ton'ett had finally made contact with Nen, who was at the time the most powerful goa'uld in the galaxy, next to Anubis. The time Harry spent going over the pilfered data proved to be disappointing, if not completely fruitless. Ton'ett's skills had been exaggerated by Bastet, if the crystal was anything to go by. Ton'ett had focused mainly on improving current technology, and not on innovation. The bulk of such research was mostly useless to him, though he now had plans to improve his life signs scanning technology. The only really interesting data that he had retrieved had been theoretical in nature. She believed that it was possible to transport relatively small objects through subspace, nearly instantaneously. If she was right, then it could be possible to send inorganic matter to other galaxies. Harry vowed to look into it later.

They waited for Anubis' forces to arrive for a lot longer than they had expected. Intelligence showed that Kong Bao had launched a large scale offensive against Anubis that had succeeded in destroying two of his motherships. Only a small portion of territory had been gained though, and Kong Bao had lost far more than Anubis had. Ten days after Ton'ett had been chased away from her strong hold, two of Anubis' motherships jumped into orbit.

They were well prepared for their adversaries though. In addition to the Tar'Chell, there were two Tollan war ships, and three ha'tak's belonging to the Jaffa rebellion. They wanted to capture the two ships, and it would be the Jaffa that would be doing a lot of the work in securing the ships from their current occupants.

The motherships opened fire on the Tollan ships immediately, but the war ships were up to withstanding the barrage. A score of drones were launched, and many were intercepted, but it took only one drone each to take out the ship's hyperdrives, preventing escape. Two other drones managed to hit their targets, and the two ships lost shields and weapons respectively. As the Tollans launched two more drones to finish the job, scores of death gliders were launched by all five ha'taks. While Harry's allies set about destroying the enemy gliders, Harry began his own part of the mission. Closing his eyes, Harry jumped aboard the closest enemy mothership. Specifically, he came out in the computer core. While not impossible to board a ha'tak under normal circumstances, it was not entirely easy. It was Harry's job to grease the wheels for the invading Jaffa. Alarms went off as soon as he appeared, but Harry was alone in the room, so he melted the two big doors shut. He quickly placed a hand against the computer core and started work. The first thing to take care of was the ship's self-destruct and anti-theft software, which would undoubtedly be engaged once the Jaffa began to board the ship. Harry simply erased the code that would either overload the ship's hyperdrive or fly it into a star. The next task was simpler; he set the ship's ring platforms to accept any incoming transports.

His job there complete, Harry disengaged himself from the computer core. Reaching through his hand device, Harry connected with the Tar'Chell to get the coordinates of the second ha'tak. Of course, they were expecting him. There were twelve Jaffa in the room, and they all fired when he appeared. His shield could have withstood them all in turn, but not all at once, and only a hastily raised energy barrier saved him from death. He was pretty sure he would be sunburned for a while, though. His Gatebuilder shield was overloaded, and his hand-device could not cover him while he was moving, so he pushed out a wall of fire against the Jaffa, who were conveniently lined up against him. It was too spread out to do much damage, but it was brilliant as a distraction. In the confusion, Harry began launching balls of plasma with one hand, as he fired a zat with the other. They were too few now to be able to overwhelm his goa'uld shield. That was when the ashrak entered the room.

The ashrak were the goa'uld assassins, and they didn't do things by half. While there was no insignia for an ashrak, the goa'uld's clothing, tailored for combat, gave him away. The assassin sneered at the last Jaffa standing and stabbed him in the base of the skull. The Jaffa dropped to the ground lifelessly, unaware of his death at the hands of one of his gods. He turned to Harry.

"**Human**," he said in English, "**thief of the al'kesh renamed the '**_**Tar'Chell**_**.**'" The ship's name was particularly sneered at. "**By the word of the supreme goa'uld, Anubis, your death has been ordered. Would you like to beg for mercy from your gods?**"

Harry responded with a ball of plasma, but of course it was absorbed by the goa'uld's personal shield. The ashrak laughed and raised his hand. Harry recognized the energy lance worn on the ashrak's finger, but he was unprepared for it to pierce through his shield, and then his shoulder. Harry screamed in agony and fell to the ground. Apparently, this was something else that Anubis had upgraded. Once more, the ashrak laughed as he walked forward, slowly as to accommodate his shield. Harry saw the hara'kesh on the ashrak's other hand, and realized that the ashrak was looking forward to killing him slowly. It was the only reason he was still alive. Harry did not waste the opportunity. Pushing through the haze, Harry blew up a gouge in the floor, towards the approaching ashrak. As he had hoped, the shrapnel was able to pierce the shield, sending hot metal into the ashrak's leg and abdomen. Harry pushed himself off the ground to meet the screaming goa'uld.

Not trusting his ability to throw a knife, Harry drew one, but held on to it. Dropping his own shield he pushed energy into his legs, and leapt at the ashrak, knife outstretched. He easily bypassed the shield, but the assassin deflected his knife. The ashrak grabbed him by the throat and began choking him. Harry had a back-up plan though, and a ball of plasma went through the ashraks' stomach. They both dropped to the ground.

Harry sat there for a moment, grasping his shoulder and coughing. He knew that he didn't have the mental capacity to jump back to his own ship, and knowing that he would need to leave the room soon, Harry knew that he didn't have time to infiltrate the computer system as he wanted to. He settled for destroying the computer's crystals, needing to blast through the floor to reach some of them. It would prevent the ship from self-destructing, but it would be a while before it would be operational again.

Harry knew that many of the ships system's would still be working, like the ring platforms, so he set off to find one, taking the ashrak's lance weapon before he left. There were no Jaffa in the corridor outside the room. Either the rest were all busy defending the ship from the invading Jaffa, or the ashrak had sent away the guards, believing himself to be more than adequate for the job. Either way, he was grateful.

Of course, the goa'uld were clever enough to not put a ring platform on a level as sensitive as the one with the computer core, and Harry was forced to travel up four levels before he was able to detect a ring relay through the wall. His shoulder screamed in agony the whole way there. He only came across Jaffa once, a group of twelve running through the halls. Harry ducked down a corridor to avoid detection. A few minutes later, he reached the platform. He used the keypad to target the Tar'Chell, and to open the platform to all other incoming travelers. Stepping onto the platform, he activated it, sending a signal to his ship at the same time, telling it to accept him.

Once aboard, Harry wanted nothing more than to collapse and rest, but he knew that that was not an option. He gritted his teeth, made his way to the control room, and hailed the lead Tollan ship. He got the communication officer this time, instead of the captain, who was no doubt busy leading the battle.

"Captain Potter," said the man, "you have a report?"

"I completed my objectives on the first ship, however, I ran into trouble on the second. I disabled their core computer, disabling their self-destruct, but I was able to open only one of the ring platforms."

"My system is detecting a high level of stress in your voice, Captain, are you injured?"

"It's a flesh wound," said Harry, "all ready cauterized. I can wait to see a doctor. Tell me about the battle."

The man nodded and answered. "Enemy gliders have been neutralized, with a seventy-two percent death rate. Ninety-six percent of the rebel gliders made it through to the ha'tak vessels, and most have managed to board the ships. Aboard the ha'tak that you were successful on, key points have successfully been taken; victory is believed to be eminent. Aboard the other ha'tak, progress has been slower. The main command center has been taken, but large scale fighting continues across the ship."

Harry nodded, taking in the report. His face flushed red with the shame of his failure on the second ship. Rebel Jaffa were over there dying, because he had been unable to open the platforms for a second wave of Jaffa.

"Is there anything-" he started, but was cut off as another ha'tak came out of hyperspace right on top of Harry and the two Tollan ships. The three rebel Jaffa ships were further away. It opened fire immediately on the two Tollan war ships, all ready knowing them to be the biggest threat. Death gliders came pouring out a second later. Half went towards the Tar'Chell, opening fire as they did to little effect. The other half interposed themselves between the ha'tak and the Tollan ships. The intent was clear, as they began intercepting drones sent at the ha'tak. Even though they were out of phase, the high energy of the death gliders' weapons were enough to force them back into phase with the rest of the universe. The now normal missiles began to detonate against the ha'tak's advanced shields.

The two Tollan ships began to move away from the ha'tak as they began firing energy weapons, not at the mothership, but at the death gliders. Harry began firing at the death gliders that were swarming him, as he moved to intercept the ha'tak. 'So much for the Tollan's jamming technology,' he thought as he approached the ship that must have been summoned by one of the two ambushed ha'taks. His ship shuddered violently as one of the remaining death gliders crashed into him. Harry cursed and started flying more creatively in order to avoid any more collisions. When he neared the ha'tak though, he began firing upon it in earnest with his ship's ion cannon. Explosions began to flash along the ha'tak's surface, as its shield began to fail. Five drones finally came past the destroyed death gliders and disappeared into the ship before exploding. Harry quickly maneuvered the Tar'Chell away from the soon to explode ship. The Tar'Chell was buffeted as the explosive force passed over it, but there was no real damage.

Feeling ready to pass out at that point, Harry reinitiated the link to the main Tollan ship. He could see, in the background, that the ship had taken damage. Where before, Tollan officers had been calmly directing a battle, they were now running around trying to fix various crises.

"When you get the chance," he said, "I'd appreciate it if you could send a medic over." He settled back, as the Tollans' energy weapons destroyed the last of the death gliders. He closed his eyes for a moment, knowing that his part in the battle was mostly over. 'That could have gone better,' he thought.

!!!!!

An hour later, the fighting was over, and the two captured ha'taks were being towed to one of the rebel bases. Tok'ra engineers would be meeting them there to effect repairs. Six hundred and seventy-two Jaffa had been taken prisoner by their brethren, and all ready, many of them had been recruited, following the ease with which they had been defeated by their masters enemies. For many of them, it was the last straw in a long line of humiliations of the goa'uld.

Two Tollan medics had transported over to the Tar'Chell, and Harry's shoulder had been tended to, as well as his pseudo sunburn. The shoulder wound was not yet healed, but it would be able to heal properly on it's own now; Harry was planning on having it healed completely on Tollana though. He was resting now in the command chair, having split off from the rest of the joint fleet, floating along the indistinct line between wakefulness and sleep. He groaned when he received a hail from a Tok'ra channel.

Shaking his head to bring back awareness, Harry manually put in the command to accept the transmission. The face of a Tok'ra he didn't recognize appeared before him.

"Harry Potter," the man greeted him, "my name is Marresh. Yours is the closest allied ship in range of Anubis' flag ship."

"You've found it then?" Harry asked.

He nodded. "We have intercepted a transmission, indicating that he is traveling to oversee the interrogation of Thor of the Asgard. I am sending the coordinates now."

"Thank you," said Harry.

The man tilted his head to one side. "I see that you are injured. Are you capable of seeing to this mission?"

"I have strength enough for this," said Harry. "Will anyone else be coming?"

"We are contacting the Tollans as well."

"Okay then," said Harry. "I'll try to leave something for them to do."

The man nodded and ended the transmission. Harry checked the navigation computer. The journey would take just under an hour. Harry thought that that would be enough time to make a plan of attack. Anubis' mothership would be more powerful than any of the others, he knew.

By the time he reached the solar system in question, Harry felt ready for battle, thanks in no small part to the painkillers supplied to him by the Tollan medics. The first thing he saw were two motherships firing upon a cargo ship that was wildly trying to evade their blasts. Harry hailed the cargo ship, hedging a bet on the fact that it's shields still held. He was not surprised when he saw SG-1 aboard. They had refitted the ship with a naquadria core, though it obviously had not saved either their hyperdrive or their cloak.

"Need some help, guys?" he asked?

"You think?" asked Jack.

Harry sent them his shield frequency as he interposed himself between them and the motherships. "Ring aboard," he told them. He began firing in earnest upon the two ships. A quick scan of their hyperdrives identified the signature of Anubis' ship. Harry immediately focused his attention on the other ship, wanting to get it out of the way.

"Hey guys," said Harry, as Sam, Jack and Teal'c walked into the command room with an Asgard. As he spoke, small explosions began to pepper the surface of the second Ha'tak. Harry continued firing, even as his own ship began to take damage from Anubis'.

"Daniel, take the helm. Jack take weapons. Sam, don't let them get out of range of me, and don't destroy his ship, just egg him on. Also, you and Teal'c can't use any of the systems when I'm not here." He was referring to the rather nasty security system that he had installed in the al'kesh, in order to keep the secrets of naquadria out of Anubis' hands. "Really, don't touch anything."

"Harry, what are you doing?" asked Sam.

"I'll be right back," he said, and with that he jumped off the ship, and into the computer core of Anubis's ha'tak.

He dodged to the side as soon as he materialized, fearing the worst. They were not ready for him though; there were only two Jaffa staffing the room, and Harry shot them with his zat before they could react. Harry levitated them out of the room while the intruder alarms went off. He sealed the doors together before any more company could join him. He went over to the computer console and quickly overrode the security algorithms. A quick command caused a large column to rise from the floor, revealing the main large sheet crystals that ran the ship.

Harry pulled two of the crystals, before taking off of the backpack that he had prepared for this purpose. He retrieved two similar crystals that he had developed in tandem with the Tollan, and inserted them into the column. Automatically, the crystals sought out and began downloading all consciousnesses that had been pilfered by Anubis. Knowing that that would take a few minutes, Harry went back to the console and entered his consciousness into the system. He first entered the command to shut down the hyperdrive, which would take at least five minutes to countermand. His next thought was for the ship's weapons, but he found that they were all ready disabled. He settled for lowering the shields.

His first indication that he had a problem occurred when he noticed distantly that he was coughing. He pulled back his awareness enough to realize that the room was flooding with gas. Harry raised his shield and pulled out his breather. He turned his attention to the door behind him, which was now being fired upon from outside. He knew that it would not hold for long. While the door could not be opened, it could be blasted apart, and it would not be long before heavy explosives were retrieved. Considering his options, Harry knew that the door could very well be bypassed before the transfer was complete. Not wanting another fight against a dozen or more Jaffa, and not wanting to leave empty handed, Harry destroyed the computer console, before walking up to the column. Worming his way amongst the crystals, and thanking the universe for the first time for his small stature, Harry checked to make sure he could clear the floor before he gave the command mentally for the column to descend into the floor. Fortunately, there was just enough room in the compartment for Harry to move out from the crystals. He was glad that he wasn't claustrophobic.

He pushed his mind once more into the system, and felt for how much more time would be needed. He had another minute to wait. A deep vibration in the metal under his feet let him know that the door had finally been breached. It wouldn't take long for them to find him, but then they would have to manually raise the column, which would take them time. Time that they did not have. Seconds later, even as Harry could detect their efforts to raise the column, the transfer completed itself, and Harry managed to remove the two crystals. Holding onto them, Harry jumped off the ship.

Back in his command center, Harry turned to Sam as he set down the crystals. "What's going on?" he asked.

"The mothership has been disabled," she told him. "A Tollan war ship has joined us, and we're just shooting down death gliders right now."

"You can destroy the mother ship now," said Harry.

"No," said Sam, "Thor's consciousness is aboard that ship. We destroy it, and we kill Thor."

"The Supreme Commander would accept that sacrifice," the unnamed Asgard interjected."

"No sacrifice needed," said Harry. "Every consciousness that was on Anubis' ship is now on these two crystals."

"I have no idea how you went about doing that," said Jack, "but can I blow the guy up all ready?"

"Yeah," said Harry.

"Sure," said Sam.

"A piece of the mothership is detaching itself," said Teal'c.

"Shoot it!" shouted Harry, as Jack said "Firing!"

A bolt from the ion cannon shot toward the escape module, racing Tollan drones to get there. The drones hit first, and the bolt finished the job.

"That might not have been Anubis," said Harry.

"Yeah," said Jack. He opened fire on the ha'tak. They had managed to regain shields, and sensors showed that the hyperdrive was spooling up. But it never had a chance to flee as the combined firepower of the Tollan war ship and the Tar'Chell rained down upon it.

"Well," said Harry, unable to tear his eyes away from the explosion.

"So that's it?" asked Jack. "No more Anubis?"

"I doubt it," said Harry. "I mean, maybe, but Anubis is a being of energy. He isn't bound by a physical body."

"That doesn't mean that the energy that he is comprised of can't be distorted by the amount of energy from that explosion," said Sam.

Harry inclined his head.

"Harry Potter," said the Asgard, "my name is Heimdal, and on my own behalf, and on the behalf of the Asgard, I extend gratitude for your actions."

"Really," said Harry, "I've been wanting to do that for a while now, so…"

Harry trailed off as three massive Asgard ships dropped out of hyperspace right on top of them. An Asgard signal forced its way through the comm. system.

"Goa'uld ship," said a voice, "you are in violation of the protected planets treaty. Lower your shields now."

Heimdal hurried towards one of the consoles (as much as an Asgard could hurry) and placed a crystal on top of it. Instantly, an Asgard face appeared on the screen blinking, perhaps in surprise.

"Greetings, Freyr," said Heimdal. "This ship is possessed by a human allied with Earth."

"I see," said Freyr. "And has your research been preserved?"

"Indeed," said Heimdal. "As well, we have rescued the Supreme Commander."

"That was unexpected," said Freyr, "good. Lower your shields, and we will begin the transport."

Harry lowered the shields, and turned to Heimdal. "How are we going to handle the consciousnesses then?" he asked. "We never got that far in our plan."

"We will be able to handle the transfer of Supreme Commander Thor's consciousness. I assume you are asking to the life of another whose consciousness was taken by Anubis."

Harry nodded. "A doctor from Earth. As I understand it, the body has been kept alive."

"We have never done such a thing with a human before," said Heimdal, "but I do not believe that it will be a problem."

"Cool," said Harry.

"Thank you," said Sam.

"I guess you should take the crystals with you then," said Harry.

"Indeed," said Heimdal. "Farewell, SG-1 and Harry Potter. It has been most intriguing to have worked with you."

They all said their goodbyes as Heimdal removed the crystal and was beamed up in a white light. The crystals followed seconds later.

"Oooh," said Harry. "I need to learn how to do that."

Jack rolled his eyes. "That's just what we need."

"They can transport from less than two-hundred miles. I mean, they're very rudely right on top of us."

Sam smiled and didn't say anything as she hugged him. Harry hugged her back, but she stepped back with a frown. She reached out and pulled down his shirt collar, revealing the bandages beneath.

"Harry," she said disapprovingly.

"It's only a flesh wound," he said defensively.

"What sort of a flesh wound?" asked Jack.

"Just, you know, a little hole through my shoulder. Ashraks, right? No big deal."

Sam gave him a look.

!!!!!

Many light years away, as the Tollans and the Asgard began their search for any sign of Anubis, Sirius sat in his encampment outside the underground shipyard. Through further forays into spying, he had learned that people were coming soon to look at the ship. This could be his opportunity to get aboard. They were very nearly reaching completion. Soon, he would be in space, looking for his godson.

A/N: Now that was a little too easy, wasn't it? Things are going to get interesting, I can promise you that. Remember, reviews keep the beast happy.


	8. 08 Intermission

Disclaimer: Don't own it. Wish I did. All hail the creators of Harry Potter and Stargate.

Intermission

If not for his time in Azkaban, Sirius's time aboard the Prometheus would have been the worst period in his life. Sure there were no soul sucking beings of darkness, but for two weeks all he did was sit disillusioned in the corner of a supply closet. He had a month's worth of nutritive potions, but he could feel himself wasting away anyway. He was quite sure that he would sell his teeth for a walk, and an arm for a chicken wing.

Security on the ship prevented him from doing much of anything though, and his getting off of the planet relied on his remaining undetected. For the most part, Sirius spent his time in a light doze. His only form of entertainment, a worn book on tracking magic, had all ready been read through three times. He was startled out of his doze when a woman ran into the room.

The woman rushed to the door's control panel, but was not fast enough. In the next instant, a man rushed into the room, a firearm outstretched.

"That's enough major," he cocked his weapon. "You really should have stayed with the group."

Sirius was up in a flash, and he brandished his wand as he shouted out, "Expelliarmus!"

The firearm flew through the air, and Sirius caught it deftly. A quick 'Stupefy,' sent the man to the ground. Sirius' already weakened disillusionment broke around the pressure of his spells, and he cursed as the woman turned to face him.

"Who are you," she asked, at the same time Sirius asked, "What's going on?"

The sound of footsteps interrupted them, and the woman returned her attention to the control panel and closed the door. Someone outside banged on the door, and a few seconds later, a light on the panel turned red. The woman turned back to Sirius.

"I asked first," he told her before she could open her mouth.

"I am _Major_ Samantha Carter of the US Air Force-" she started.

"And you work for the Stargate program, and I'm in ever so much trouble for trespassing on your little ship." Sirius stretched his sore muscles. "But I think that you have bigger problems on your hands than me right now."

Samantha glowered at him. "It seems that the ship's being hijacked. Your turn."

"I assume you know Harry," he said. She nodded. "I'm his godfather. And as his godfather, I cannot do my godfatherly duties while I am on Earth, and he is not."

She stared at him incredulously. "Do you even have any idea what's out there?"

He shrugged. "Evil parasitic snakes, armies, whatnot. All the more reason for me to go."

"You're insane."

"Yeah, well, eight years in Hell on Earth will do that to you. Now, back to the matter at hand, what's your plan here?"

"Excuse me?"

"Well I can't in good conscience just leave you here to face this."

"You can't be serious," said the Major.

"Wait, how did you- I mean, I'm completely serious." Damn his homonym name.

"We need to get out of this room, and retake the bridge."

"What's stopping us from getting out of here?" asked Sirius.

She gestured to the red-lit panel. "The door's locked, and I can't bypass it from here."

Sirius gave a surreptitious wave of his wand and a silent 'Alohamora' turned the light green.

"You sure about that?" he asked.

She frowned at the panel, and then back at him. "How did you do that?"

"I didn't do anything," he lied, using his best look of innocence. "The ship's not exactly finished yet though, is it?"

She shook her head and looked down at the unconscious man at their feet. "I don't suppose you have some of that truth serum on you?" There was an added glare there, most likely over that Air Force Colonel.

Sirius shook his head. He had sold the last of the serum for the nutritive potions.

"Right," she said, "you're sticking with me then?"

"To the end," he said. "But don't expect me to stick around after. You wouldn't shoot me with this, would you?" he held out the weapon. "It's just that I think you have more experience with firearms."

Samantha took the weapon. "I think I could restrain myself."

"Look, you know about how Harry has abilities, right?"

"He's not the only one with abilities."

"Right, so I figure it won't blow your mind if I make things a little faster."

"I travel to other planets."

"Right, so just grab my arm."

"Excuse me?"

"Just hold on to my arm, and I'll save us some time."

Samantha looked warily at him as she grabbed a hold of his arm. Sirius focused on a small map of the ship, printed on the bulkhead, before spinning and disapparating. They reappeared in the corridor outside of the bridge.

Samantha looked at him shrewdly. "That was less than two hundred miles."

Sirius could not imagine why that was relevant, and gave a noncommittal, "Hm."

"Stay behind me, and don't get in the way," said Samantha. Sirius nodded, fearing that he had used too much magic in the first place.

Samantha cocked her weapon and opened the door to the bridge. She walked forward forcefully, her firearm outstretched. "Get on the ground," she shouted, "keep your hands where I can see them!"

There was one woman in the room, and she made a move for her weapon, which she had left at another console, but Samantha interrupted her.

"I don't think so. Get down on the floor."

The woman obviously knew that she couldn't make it, and held her hands up, as she got down.

"Seal the door behind us," Samantha ordered Sirius. Not sure how to work the door controls, Sirius gave a surreptitious 'Colloportus,' while the Major wasn't looking, which caused the door to close and seal.

"What's next?" asked Sirius.

"Now we seal the compartments the intruders are in, and call in reinforcements."

"Right then, you do that," he said, before apparating out to his camp. He would have to pack up; the ship would probably be under too much security for him to try to hide out again. He loudly cursed the blasted hijackers. It looked like Russia was now his best lead, and the country was notoriously hard to get into.

!!!!!

"With Anubis gone, the chaos that we carefully cultivated has become more… chaotic. A goa'uld that we have never heard of before, Garren, was able to take up much of Anubis' ships and worlds. However, with the many failures of the goa'uld, many of Anubis' Jaffa have begun to leave. Many of them have joined the rebellion, though some of them, more disturbingly, have begun having repeated fights to the death. An apparent form of suicide without actually killing ones self."

They were holding another meeting on Tollana, and First Officer Tellis had opened the discussion.

"**The Tok'ra have never observed this kind of behavior**," said Lantash.

"This is not a Jaffa tradition," said Teal'c darkly. "How it started, I do not know."

"Our intelligence has shown that the Jaffa engaging in these fights were among those who went to Anubis after the System Lords fell, rather than those acquired in battle," said Tellis.

"The Jaffa rebellion has sent out emissaries to those engaging in the fighting, but there has yet to be any progress," said Teal'c. "I fear that this problem will soon end on its own terms."

There was nothing else to be said on the subject, so Harry cleared his throat.

"I still don't think we know enough about Anubis' condition to call him 'gone'."

"We know almost nothing about his physical nature," said Sam. "For all we know, he's on the other side of the galaxy, regaining his strength."

"Or he may be stuck in the system his ship was destroyed in, or dead," said Narim.

"I agree with Harry," said Lantash, "we cannot let our guard down. We must assume that he will return, ready to fight us once more."

"Yes," said Tellis, "but without knowing more about him, we have no way of determining the matter one way or another. We never will, unless he does return."

"As I see it," said Jack, "being prepared for Anubis to return, is the same as what we'd be doing if we didn't expect him. We need to neutralize Garren, keep the others fighting amongst themselves, and help the rebellion to grow. Anubis can't take over the galaxy if he doesn't have an army to do it with."

"It's hard to explain exactly how evil and," Harry searched for the right word, "diabolical Anubis is. He waited thousands of years to return to the playing field after his banishment. I don't think we want to be with the System Lords on the list of people who thought they had Anubis taken care of."

"Right now, all we can do is keep our eyes open," said Narim. "If Anubis is coming back, he isn't going to announce himself until he's ready to destroy us."

!!!!!

Jack and Sam walked up to Harry after the meeting.

"So," said Sam, "I've got an update on this godfather situation,"

"Is this going to be as interesting as the last time?" asked Harry.

"Oh yeah," said Jack.

"You remember the ship we're making?"

Harry smiled. "You're asking if I remember Earth's first interstellar space ship?" he asked, not counting the fighters.

"Right," she said, "anyway, he tried to stow aboard."

Harry laughed. "That's crazy," he said. "I mean, that thing must have security in spades."

"Oh, we might not have found him if not for the hijacking."

"I thought you said that he was a stowaway."

"Oh, he wasn't a part of the attempt to take the ship. Some rogue federal agents managed to get a team aboard. They wanted to find a stash of off world Ancient technology, though the address they had didn't lead anywhere. Anyway, your godfather came out of hiding to save me. He helped me retake the ship, and then he just left. He's got a method of instantaneous travel, by the way, that's completely different from either of yours."

"Right, but what was he trying to do anyway? Stowing away."

"Same thing he was doing when he drugged me," said Jack. "He wants to find you."

"He said that if you're out here, he wouldn't be doing his duty by staying on Earth."

"He wouldn't be- his duty? Where was his duty _before_ I was taken host?" asked Harry, suddenly riled.

"I don't really know, Harry, but it's possible that he was stuck somewhere," said Sam.

"Like where?"

"He mentioned being in Hell on Earth for eight years. My guess is prison."

"Hm," said Harry, slightly mollified in spite of himself. "That's better than some things. Not exactly reassuring though."

"Look," said Sam, "I don't know where he's been, or why. But he's going to some pretty long lengths to get to you."

"That's not entirely comforting either," said Harry.

"Creepy," suggested Jack.

"A little," said Harry.

"Well we thought you should know."

"Thanks," said Harry, "and I'm glad he helped you."

"Well Harry," said Jack, "we've got to go. Our trip back is scheduled soon."

"I'll be seeing you guys," said Harry.

"You too, Harry. So stay out of trouble."

"You're ones to talk," Harry rebutted.

"Bye, Harry," said Sam.

The two walked away, joining Daniel and Teal'c on the other side of the room. Narim took the opportunity to approach him.

"Harry," he said, "I hope you don't have any plans."

"I wasn't planning on anything in particular," Harry answered.

"Good," said Narim. "I would like to talk to you about your future."

"My future?" asked Harry, drawing a blank as to where this conversation was going.

"Yes. The High Council has discussed this, and it is believed that for the time being, the best course of action would be for you to take a much less active role in the war effort."

"What? But I didn't do anything wrong?"

"This isn't a punishment, and please know that you can always have a home on Tollana. We feel though that with Anubis' disappearance, and the current state of the war, your special skills are no longer in demand; there is no need for you to fight, and put yourself in danger. You can still be a part of planning our war strategy, but for the time being your time would be better spent in school."

"School," said Harry dryly.

"You would have the opportunity to learn sciences far beyond those of the goa'uld."

"I can't sit in a class room while the galaxy is being ruled by the goa'uld."

"But the galaxy is not being ruled by the goa'uld. They are still a threat, but one that can be managed without you fighting. You are currently the only ten year old that is actively fighting; not even the Jaffa fight so young."

"And if I decide to fight anyway?"

"As I said, you will always have a home here, but we will not support you in fighting the goa'uld. Not if you do not at least try to settle down and attend lessons with other youth."

"Try," said Harry. "So I could try it, and decide I don't like it."

"Yes," said Narim. "You saved our entire civilization, Harry; we want only what is best for you."

A Tollan education was tempting. "How involved would I still be able to be?"

"We would still appreciate your attendance at meetings such as these. Your insight into the goa'uld, as well as your creativity in fighting them is much appreciated."

Harry sighed. He felt as though he had been backed into a corner, but the offer was tempting. "Fine," he said, "I'll try it."

"Excellent," said Narim with a smile. "There is a lecture that expands on naquadria technology tomorrow. Perhaps you should attend it."

Harry shook his head. It figured that the Tollans would invite him to a lecture on a technology that he had invented.

!!!!!

The Tollan education system seemed to be more like what Harry imagined secondary school, or perhaps college to be like than his prior experience in school. There weren't grade levels or specific classes that one had to take. Each student took the classes that best suited their needs, and to a degree they were able to attend any class that interested them. Harry liked it.

It was something of a surprise to him when the lesson on naquadria technology had gone mostly over his head. The Tollans had quickly taken the technology beyond the sciences that he was familiar with, which was how he found himself taking lessons mostly with children closer to his own age, though he was still always the youngest.

Back in Surrey, school had been a haven of sorts for him. He never shared classes with Dudley, so he only had to deal with the boy during recess and lunch, and the other children usually left him alone when his cousin wasn't around. He had enjoyed learning; enjoyed the attention of his teachers. Even though he had held back on his work, for fear of out shining his cousin, most of his teachers at least had seemed a little fond of him.

On Tollana, he was able to flourish academically. His fellow students, and many of the instructors, treated him like a peer. He didn't get very close to any of his fellow students, but he did manage to get along with them quite well. He was interesting to them for many reasons, he knew. He was an alien, a former host, and the savior of the Tollan race, not to mention his special abilities. For once, Harry didn't mind the attention so much; no one was rude about it.

With things going better than he had expected, Harry allowed himself to relax. He had settled quite nicely into the apartment that he had been provided with. The war with the goa'uld was going well, there had been no major losses since Anubis had been neutralized. He could get used to this.

!!!!!

Harry's hands hurt. He shook his head, and looked down at his raw red hands, still under a stream of hot water. He pulled them back "They're clean," he said aloud to himself.

Harry shook his head again as he turned off the water. He hadn't done this since he had rescued Sarah. He had forgotten the feeling of never being clean of the lingering essence of death. Ignoring the pain, Harry roughly dried his hands and walked out of the bathroom in his apartment on Tollana. Throwing himself down on the couch in his living area, Harry thought about this new development.

Obviously, he thought, this arrangement wasn't working. He had been just fine when he was out fighting, when he was an actual part of the war effort, and not just a worthless voice at a conference table. Why should he get to take a break, after all, when the rest of the galaxy was at war? He didn't deserve special treatment.

A conclusion made, Harry got up and went to find a pair of gloves to wear. He was going to go see Narim, and while the minor damage done to the skin of his hands was all ready rapidly healing, they were still quite obviously red. That done Harry went to the apartment's communication system and connected himself to Anan's office.

"Captain Potter," the man greeted him, "what can I do for you?"

"I was hoping to see Narim, if I can. I don't need much time."

"He should be able to see you now, if only for a few minutes," Anan replied.

"I'll come over then. Thank you."

"Of course, Captain."

Harry terminated the call and left his apartment, going down the four flights of stairs, and walking the short distance to Narim's building. Walking up to Anan's desk, the man said, "You can go right in."

Harry nodded and strode forward, entering Narim's office. "Narim," he greeted. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

"No Harry, it's fine. What can I do for you?"

"It's this whole 'being a kid' arrangement. It's really not working out. I mean, this isn't the right time. People are still dying out there, and I could be helping them."

"I see," said Narim. The man studied Harry for a moment, causing Harry to fidget. "Your voice at our war meetings has been of value to us, Harry. You should keep in mind that the nature of this war has changed. I believe that you can still have the luxury of not fighting. I have a proposition: why don't you think on this some more, and come back tomorrow, we can talk more then."

"But-" Harry started.

"I am sorry, Harry, but I cannot speak further today. I need to leave soon, there is a meeting of the Curia soon."

Harry huffed. "All right," he said, "I'll be back tomorrow, but I don't expect that I'll change my mind."

"We'll see," said Narim, as Harry walked out of the office.

Harry reflected that one more day wouldn't be too bad. The series of lectures he was attending on excited neutrinos were interesting.

The next day, Harry had not slept well, nor had he changed his mind. His hands were back to normal, so he had doffed his gloves, and he now sat waiting outside of Narim's office. Apparently, the man was even busier today than he had been the day before. Harry turned his head as the oddest-looking woman Harry had ever seen walked into the room. He quickly identified her as one of the Nox.

Anan stood to greet the woman. "Lya, my apologies. High Chancellor Narim is busier than he had expected. Perhaps you could wait for him?"

"That is quite all right, Anan. I have no need to hurry." Lya turned and smiled serenely at Harry. "Greetings," she said.

"Hello," said Harry. "I have heard of you, Lya of the Nox. I am glad to have a chance to meet you."

"It is always a pleasure to greet a new face, Harry of the Stars. I have heard of you as well."

Harry cleared his throat. "All good, I hope."

"I have heard of tragedy and bravery, and of a child who is still so young."

Harry shrugged uncomfortably. "I am what I am."

"As are we all," said Lya with a smile. She looked out through the large windows on the other side of the room. "I do so love to see the forests on Tollana. They try so hard to tame the world around them, but they never touch the forest."

"Why is that?" asked Harry, genuinely curious.

Lya smiled down at him. "Tellis told me once that the forest hides many things. Perhaps they wish to keep a reminder that the universe has much to teach them yet."

"Well I'm sure that they don't keep it for camping," said Harry, who had a hard time imagining any Tollan roughing it for a weekend.

Anan came up to them. "Lya, Captain Potter, I regret to tell you that High Chancellor Narim has had to leave to another province on short notice. He won't be able to meet with either of you today."

"There is no trouble in waiting," said Lya.

Harry did his best to follow her example in avoiding frustration. "All right, but I'd like to see him when he's first available."

"Of course," said Anan. "My apologies."

Harry nodded and bid the man a good day. He left the room with Lya next to him.

"Perhaps we could take a walk into the forest," said Lya.

"A walk?" asked Harry.

"It is a lovely day," said Lya, "and our other plans have been interrupted."

"I think it might rain," said Harry.

"Would that be a problem?" she asked.

Harry shrugged. "I guess not."

They walked out of the building in silence, and then on towards the tree line. Harry finally spoke as the wilderness engulfed them.

"I don't know much of anything about your planet. Are there many forests there?"

"There are many systems of life on Oreillia. A great many of them are forests."

"Do you take a lot of walks in your forests?"

"I have at times spent many years in the forest."

"Away from society?" asked Harry.

"I had my family, and there were others to call on. I was away from the cities though." She looked up at a tree. "I have wondered if human children enjoy trees as much as the Nox do."

Harry looked at the tree and smiled. It was a good tree. He looked back at Lya. "I think that it's a good bet." He jumped up, and grabbed the nearest branch, using it to pull himself up. He lifted himself up a couple more branches, before looking down.

"Perhaps a better question would be: do the Nox grow out of it?"

Lya smiled and reached up to the limb that Harry had used and pulled herself up. She was quickly beside him.

"You must find the forest relaxing," said Harry as he climbed to a higher level.

"A walk through the forest can be good for the soul," said Lya, catching up with him again.

"Is that so?"

"My mother told a story when I was young, of a being who crashed on Oreillia. Her wounds were easily mended, but her soul was in such disquiet. She was many months journey away from the gateway, but my mother was offered to her as a guide."

"Couldn't your people have taken her there directly?" Harry asked.

"The journey was far more important than the destination. Her soul was young still by the end of their journey, but it knew peace in the end. Both souls did."

"Both- your mother befriended a goa'uld?"

"All are friends to the Nox, though I do not believe that she called herself goa'uld after she left."

Harry processed that piece of information, pausing in his ascent of the tree. "Are you saying that the being that crashed on your world was Egeria, Queen of the Tok'ra?"

"Yes," said Lya, "that was the name that she eventually took."

"That was some walk," said Harry, climbing again.

"As I said, walks are good for the soul."

The branches were becoming thinner, and Harry decided that they had gone high enough. He sat down on his branch and looked at Lya.

"You didn't have any business with Narim today, did you?" he asked.

"No," she said, "but I did yesterday."

"That sneaky little…"

"Something he learned from our friends from Earth, I believe. I owed him a favor, and agreed to speak with you."

"You owed him a favor?" Of all of the questions in his head, Harry did not know why he chose to voice that one.

"Oh yes."

"I thought that he owed you. You sent him home, and you saved his planet."

"Those were simple things," she said dismissively. "The Nox have been very grateful for the Tollan's regular gift of a fruit that they know we enjoy. We do not yet know if we will introduce the species into any of our ecosystems, but we appreciate having it available. They call them calpomums, but I believe that they are called pomegranates on Earth."

Only the Nox would think that fruit was a better gift than saving a person's planet. "I still don't understand why he felt the need to bring you here."

"He is worried about your well being."

"My well being is fine," said Harry, "what's to worry about?"

"Did you know that the Tollans monitor all water usage, in order to best use their resources?"

"He couldn't possibly- he's been spying on me?"

"He merely looked for the relevant information when he perceived a problem. The capital building also runs complete scans of all who enter."

"There isn't a problem, my hands are fine."

"Yet you ran scalding water over them for ten minutes."

"It only happens sometimes, and it only happened this time because I'm just sitting around doing nothing."

"Fighting will not heal your soul."

"And taking a walk will? What right do I have to sit in classes with little kids, while the rest of the galaxy is tearing itself apart?"

"And yet you would be but one among many at this point. Fighting may mask the pain of your soul's wounds, but it will not make you whole."

"Look, I don't want to fight, but isn't it better for me to fight, than for some goa'uld to come out on top of the power vacuum."

"But there is a better way."

"Right. The Nox way."

Lya smiled. "I do not think that you are quite suited to the Nox way, just yet."

"I'll give you that."

"Your fight will not be won by the person with the largest weapons and armies. And the best way to defeat your enemy is not always to destroy him. Even you must acknowledge that your future in this galaxy will go far beyond that of a fighter."

"What's that supposed to mean," asked Harry.

"You have a destiny, Harry Potter; more than one. I do not believe that your greatest accomplishments will come from fighting."

"I don't know much about destiny," said Harry. "All I do know is that I'd rather we all have a future."

"Yet what will your future be centered on? Life or death?"

"I save lives. The people I kill, the ships I destroy, they're the ones that would have gone on to destroy innocent lives."

"You know much of death?" said Lya.

Harry shrugged. "I have to."

"What do you know of life?"

Harry ran his hands through his hair. "Not much, I guess." He was only ten, after all.

"You are young yet. There is much for you to learn."

"I have a destiny, right?"

"Most assuredly."

Before Harry could respond, his hand device alerted him. "Someone's tampering with my ship."

"What are they doing?" asked Lya.

"I don't know," said Harry. "But I'm going to find out." Without another word, Harry opened a micro-hyperspace window in front of his center of gravity, and shot himself through. He reappeared aboard the Tar'Chell, but he did not arrive alone. Lya seemed to have beaten him to the ship.

"What are you doing here?" he asked her.

"We had not finished our conversation," she answered.

Harry shook his head. It was little surprise that she still would not speak plainly.

"Just, don't get in the way." He started to the bridge, mentally composing a brief message to Narim through his hand device. Sending it, he began another to the chief of Tollan police when he suddenly lost his connection with the ship. Somehow the intruder had programmed him out. It shouldn't have been possible, not so quickly, not with the changes he had made to the system. He ran the rest of the way to the pel'tak.

There was a man there, a Tollan soldier that Harry recognized from the day they had destroyed Anubis' mother ship.

"What do you think you're doing?" he asked, his shield all ready up.

"Destroying the Tollan defenses," said the soldier, stepping away from the command consol. As he spoke, Harry heard the distinctive sounds of the ship's weapons powering up. The soldier held up a Tollan stun weapon, which Harry knew would be able to pass through both of his shields, and he dove to the side as the man fired.

Harry used his magic to force the soldier against a wall as he ran to the control panel. The ship had already begun firing, and the display showed that the ship was firing both on the terrestrial cannons, and the weapons satellites. Harry's hands flew over the panel, but it was instantly evident that he had been locked out, the system password protected. He growled and quickly pushed his magic into the ship, through the console, in order to force the weapons to shut down. It required too much concentration though, and his hold on the man began to slip. As the soldier raised his weapon again, Harry desperately shot out a wave of pure magic at him, the bulk of his consciousness still in the ship's systems, trying to halt the destruction.

Harry was not sure what effect, if any, the magic would have on the man, but he was surprised when it stopped him cold. The soldier fell to the floor, and out of him came a black mist. Harry shut down the weapons and brought himself firmly back to reality.

"**Anubis,**" he said.

The wave of darkness rushed at him, and before he could react it was inside of him. He was taken over completely. There was nothing for him to push against; nothing tangible for him to fight. Anubis turned his body around and Harry's right hand rose against Lya. She raised her arms though, and they all disappeared, appearing again on a field on Tollana. It did not stop Anubis from releasing a concussive force from the hand device, sending Lya flying through the air. Even as she was propelled back, Lya waved her arms again, and Harry's world went black.

!!!!!

"I don't understand why you didn't make him stop fighting sooner," said Sam as she and the rest of her team walked towards the transport pad on their way to the Capitol building with Narim and his aide.

"I could ask you the same thing, Samantha," said Narim. "You had him on your base. If you had tried hard enough, you could have rendered him unconscious, and taken him to Earth. You would have had at least a chance of keeping him there."

"A chance," Sam admitted.

"We never wanted Harry to fight, but we had no right to force him to stop. He was an alien, with no ties to us. What connection did he have with even his own planet? We waited as long as we did to ask him to stop because we did not think that he would say yes. The last thing we wanted to do was alienate him. This way at least, he had friends."

"Right now," said Jack, "I think that this is a conversation for another time. Anubis is loose, and we don't have long to figure out what to do about him."

"Of course," said Narim. "Our military advisors are currently analyzing the situation, and hope to have a proposed course of action. Representatives from the Jaffa rebellion and the Tok'ra have already arrived. Samantha, while your voice would be welcome at the council, I believe that there is something else that you could be doing right now."

!!!!!

The first thing that he heard was Anan's voice.

"Thank you for coming Major Carter. I'm sure that he will be glad to see a friendly face when he regains consciousness. I know that you would have liked to attend the meeting with the rest of your team."

"No, it's okay." There was Sam's voice. "I'm glad you asked me to come."

Anan voice again. "His doctors say that he will awaken soon. They did not wish to hasten his awakening though, because they still do not know enough about what happened to him."

"I still don't understand how this happened," said Sam.

"As best as we can tell," said Anan, "Anubis' spirit was able to find it's way aboard one of our war ships after his ha'tak was destroyed, and he took over the body of a soldier. He spent the time since then learning what he could about our technology and defenses. As his presence seems to have a deleterious effect on the bodies he inhabits, he was forced to change bodies twice before we began to realize what was happening. We believe that he was originally planning to commandeer one of our satellites and force it to launch an attack on the planet, which would have likely destroyed much of our society. As we were raising security around key positions, Anubis apparently changed his plan, and decided to take over the Tar'Chell. He proceeded to attack our defenses. Because we knew that Captain Potter was on board, we attempted to board the ship, but found ourselves unable to. We were going to attack the Tar'Chell in order to disable the shields when the ship stopped firing."

"What I'd rather know," said Harry drowsily from his bed as he opened his eyes, "is how that," he struggled to find the right word, and settled on, "_thing_ managed to control me."

"Captain Potter," said Anan in surprise, "well, we don't really know quite how. The very nature of his being, as well as how he interacts with the physical realm still eludes us."

Harry huffed. "I swore to myself that I would never be controlled like that again. How's Lya?"

"She is well," said Anan, "she regained consciousness shortly after she was injured. She was able to tell us what happened aboard your ship."

"What happened to Anubis," he asked.

Sam spoke up. "It seems that he took another host and escaped through the Stargate."

"We had the gate under guard, of course," said Anan. "However, Anubis took one of the guards as host."

Harry sighed. He thought that Lya could have convinced him. "So the fight begins again."

A/N: Five points to the person who can name the movie that influenced this chapter.

Exciting news: I am going camping for a week. Don't worry though, I will still be writing, even if it is with pen and paper. Please remember to leave a review. I thrive off of your feedback.


	9. 09 Scourge

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Harry Potter or Stargate. Nor am I affiliated with DirecTV.

Scourge

Sirius limped through the icy forest, casting furtive glances over his shoulder. Getting through Europe had been hard enough, with every Interpol officer and Auror still looking for him. It had not been nearly as hard as entering Russia had been though. Just because the Soviet Union had fallen, didn't mean that the Russian magical community had forgotten their cause. The Russian border was as tightly protected as a prison wall, preventing magical movement in both directions.

Sirius had attempted to smuggle himself into the country inside of a large shipment of dragon's blood. The highly magical blood had nearly masked his signature, and his entrance had remained hidden until he was twenty miles past the border. His luck ran out at a second checkpoint where the wizard on duty had finally detected him. Sirius had still managed to surprise the man, and had taken his wand. Unfortunately, the man had had a back up wand, and in the ensuing duel, Sirius's leg had been left in a sorry state. He didn't dare transform in this condition, and though his mastery of human transfiguration translated over to proficiency in healing magic, he had no idea how to remove the traces of the curse on his leg in order to heal it.

He had quickly learned that Apparation was not an option either. It was as though the entire country was under anti-Apparation wards, which only certain people were keyed into. Sirius hadn't known that it was possible, but the Russians were rumored to have developed many exotic forms of magic. Sirius kept running. His own spells were keeping the Russian wizards off his trail for the moment, but he couldn't give them the time to track him down. He had to get to their Stargate if he wanted to find Harry.

Sirius had wondered many times if his plan to go through the Russian Stargate was his best option, but he never doubted that it would be worth it. Somewhere out there was his godson, and Sirius wouldn't rest until he could make sure Harry was safe. He had promised as much when he had become Harry's godfather, and, duty aside, he owed it to his best friend.

!!!!!

Nightmares were no stranger to Harry. Even before he had been taken by Isis, it was normal for the often unhappy boy to have troubled nights. Since his possession by Anubis though, his nightmares had taken an odd turn. A couple nights a week, he would wake up in a sweat, remembering only a green light and a shrill laugh. These nightmares were often accompanied by headaches centered around the strange scar on his forehead. Harry felt as though the dark energy that had been inside of him had awoken something from his past. He couldn't think of what it could be though.

It didn't help that events had taken a sharp turn with Anubis' return. The spirit had quickly regained command of his armies, in spite of the half planned and rushed attempts Harry and his allies had made to help Garren keep control of Anubis' empire. Within a week, Nen and Al'net's fleets had fallen to Anubis, though fortunately most of their motherships had been destroyed in the process. Kong Bao Lie still led Lord Yu's forces against Anubis, and he was keeping the fight strong. The Tok'ra had an operative serving under him, providing technical support that the Jaffa lacked. At the rate things were going though, it was only a matter of time before Kong Bao's armies were defeated.

In light of Anubis' time on Tollana, the Tollans had decided it prudent to go once more into hiding, in fear that Anubis had learned a way to defend against their phase shifting missiles. It was a precaution that had saved them, as the one battle ship that they had left behind had attacked the fleet of ships that Anubis sent to the now unpopulated world. The missiles, while still effective weapons, failed to bypass Anubis' shields. The battle ship had made a hasty retreat in the face of the fifteen ha'taks sent. In battle, Anubis's ships still showed themselves to be destroyable, but the job was far harder now than before.

After the deaths of Nen and Al'net, Anubis took the time to consolidate their small empires, and so Harry took the time to rest aboard the Tar'Chell whilst in orbit around the latest new Tollana. He was awoken from a restless sleep by a quiet alert from his communications system. Harry got dressed and then rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as he walked groggily to the pel'tak to answer the call. He activated the screen, and was greeted by Commander Tellis and Jack. The Colonel was wearing what Harry recognized to be the flight suit of the F-302.

"Commander, Colonel," Harry greeted, "what can I do for you?"

Commander Tellis answered him. "Earth is in great peril, and we have constructed no ship that is small enough to spare at the moment. Their gate is currently inaccessible."

Harry looked at Jack. "What did you guys do this time?" he asked.

"Hey, you can't pin this one on us," the Colonel answered. "Sam thinks that this is some kind of attack. Another world has been dialed into ours, and there's an energy build up thing in our gate. The gate won't shut down, and Sam says it's going to explode."

Harry raised his eyebrows. "The gate can store a tremendous amount of energy," he said.

"That's what Sam's told me."

"If it blew up like that…"

"Hence the 'great peril'," said Jack.

"How can I help?" asked Harry.

"Well," said Jack, "we were hoping that you could come and help us figure this out."

"You mean come to Earth?" asked Harry.

"That's right," said Jack.

"You see; it's just that I've kind of been avoiding the planet."

"The alternative is to allow the planet to be destroyed," said Tellis.

"Aren't you at least a little fond of home sweet home?" asked Jack.

"Well I wouldn't call it home sweet home," said Harry.

"Not the tiniest bit?"

"Well," Harry admitted, "there was a picture of Hawaii I was always fond of. It would be a shame for it to blow up before I got a chance to visit."

"Is that a yes?"

"Is Hawaii nice this time of year?" asked Harry.

"The gate, Harry.

He sighed. "I suppose."

"Excellent," said Jack.

"Very good," said Tellis. "We will stay in contact with you.

Harry nodded, still not feeling very good about the proposition. He addressed Jack. "Do you want to come with me? You would get there in half the time."

Jack shook his head. "I have to go back to Abydos, we left the F-302 there."

"We?" Harry asked.

"Sam and I," answered Jack. "She went to try and contact the Asgard, though we're not very hopeful that they'll be able to help."

"What happened to your big ship?" asked Harry. "The Prometheus."

"Its subspace receiver has been out of commission for a week now. Another F-302 was sent to bring it home, but it will be a few days before it gets there. They have orders to check in with the Tok'ra via a Stargate tomorrow, on their way to Earth."

"Okay," said Harry, "I'll see you on Earth then."

"One more thing," said Jack. "Make sure you drop out behind the moon. No need to give anyone back home a show. You know how to contact the SGC once you get there?"

"Yeah," said Harry.

"Good bye, Captain," said Tellis.

"Wait, Harry," said Jack, "are you okay? You've got this whole pale face and hoarse voice thing going."

Harry shrugged. "I'm just a little under the weather." Actually, now that he was completely awake, he was aware of the fact that he felt awful.

"I thought that you didn't get sick," said Jack.

"Do you require medical attention?" asked Tellis.

"I'm fine," said Harry. "I'll see you on Earth, Jack." He ended the transmission before plotting the course and entering hyperspace. He had a pit in his stomach though; separate from his general feeling of ill being. He was not worried about being captured on his home planet; he just did not feel ready to go back. It was too bad that he didn't have a choice.

He exited hyperspace a couple of hours later a few hundred kilometers behind the moon. He made sure that the ship matched the moon's orbit before sending a signal to the SGC.

"This is Captain Potter," he transmitted through the moon using subspace. Odd. He had never referred to himself with the title given to him by the Tollans.

"Captain Potter," a voice answered him, "this is Sergeant Harriman. Do you require any information in order to transport down?"

Normally Harry would be able to target the planet's Stargate, but the moon blocked his sensors. "Could you tell me where to go in relation to your subspace device?"

"Negative," said the Sergeant, "the subspace array is far off base. I can send you the information in longitude, latitude, and elevation. The computer we gave you has a program that will show you the position based off of that."

Harry already had the computer connected to the ship, and merely made the commands necessary for the data to be shared with it.

"I'll be there soon," said Harry. He ended the transmission and got ready. Deciding that he wanted more formal clothing, he donned the clothes he usually wore to meetings on Tollana. He checked the laptop, which showed the spot he was supposed to jump to as well as its relative position to the moon, before grabbing it and jumping down to the surface.

The micro-hyperspace window opened up in the gate room, atop the ramp leading to the Stargate. Harry squinted through the brighter light of the room. Aside from the guards that were likely standard there, Harry was greeted by a familiar face, along with two others.

"Elliot," said Harry, referring to the man by his last name, as Kevin did not care for his first, "I didn't know you would be here."

"The Tok'ra High Council has reached a temporary agreement with the Pentagon," the Lieutenant said. "I am a member of SG-3 until Anubis and his armies have been destroyed. Harry, let me introduce you to General Hammond, who you have only ever spoken to."

Harry extended a hand and shook with the General.

"It's good to meet you, son," said the General. "Perhaps when this is all over, I'll be able to give you a tour of the base." Harry cracked a smile at what had become a running joke. "Are you alright? You look a little ill."

"It's nothing General. I just need some more sleep."

"Very well then. I would like you to meet Doctor Rodney McKay. Next to Major Carter, he is our foremost expert on the Stargate. I hope that the three of you will make a good team, because we don't have a lot of time."

"Doctor McKay," said Harry, "a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise," said the man, "they say that you might just be able to save the planet."

"Well, I'll do my best."

"Gentlemen," said the General, "I'll leave you to your work. Use whatever resources you need." He left the room.

"Right," said McKay, "fair warning, I am not very good with kids." At Harry's raised eyebrows, he continued. "Not that you're really a kid, or… Right."

Harry was tempted to laugh at the man's consternation. Lantash spoke up.

"**You can always think of him as a very short man with a high pitched voice.**"

"Oy!" said Harry, letting his eyes flash. "You can both think of me as Captain Potter. Now tell me what you know about the gate."

"A signal is being sent through the gate, _Captain_ Potter," said Elliot, stressing the 'Captain'. "It's causing a slow charge in the gate's superconductors. When they are filled to capacity, the naquedah in the gate will become super charged, and the gate will explode. The resulting explosion will destroy a sizeable portion of both the United States and Mexico. The resulting environmental backlash would likely destroy most life on Earth."

Harry's eyes widened. "I can't even imagine how you'd go about doing that. I'll have to examine this signal."

"We have the data upstairs," said McKay pointing to the door.

Harry shook his head. "I'd rather go to the source."

"The source?" asked McKay. Elliot pointed to the gate. "Oh."

Harry walked back up the ramp towards the gate and placed a hand on it, over one of the active chevrons. He pushed his consciousness into the active gate, going first to the superconductors. That was when his knees buckled.

Harry pulled his consciousness back to find himself slumped against the railing on the side of the ramp. Elliot and McKay immediately hovered over him.

"Are you alright, Harry?" asked Elliot.

Harry gave an embarrassed smile as he sat up. "I'm fine. I guess I lost track of things on the outside."

"You're sure it's normal for you to faint like that?" asked McKay.

"I did not faint!" said Harry indignantly as he stood up. He dusted himself off. "I'm fine, let's do this." He turned back to the gate, prepared to repeat the process.

"Are you sure?" asked Elliot.

"Yep," said Harry, placing his hand once more on top of the chevron. He fell to the ground and didn't get up.

!!!!!

"Colonel, Major," greeted the General, "it's good to see you both back. Now Harry has already arrived, so Major, tell me how things went on K'Tau?"

Sam cleared her throat. "All I got at the Hall of Wisdom was a couple of pre-recorded messages from Freyr. Looks like no one's home right now." She had waited for five hours in the hopes of reaching the Asgard. Fortunately, the K'Tau were as hospitable as ever.

The General nodded. "Unfortunately, Mister Potter hasn't been able to be of any use to us."

"Well," said Sam, "he would have only arrived a couple of hours ago."

The General shook his head. "The boy collapsed as he was trying to assess the situation. He's been unconscious in the infirmary ever since."

"I said he looked sick," said Colonel O'Neill.

"What's wrong with him, sir?" asked Sam.

"I don't know," said the General. "I haven't had a chance to check on him since Doctor Frasier started treating him. I was going to go to check on him now, so we can continue this conversation on the way."

They left the office. Sam didn't have the time to worry though because the General changed the subject.

"Did you have any thoughts on the situation during your journey?"

Sam let out a frustrated sigh. "No, sir. All I've had are a series of bad ideas. So far, I don't know if it's even possible for us to stop this."

"You had better make it possible, Major."

"Yes sir."

"That's our Carter," said Jack, "always ready to make the impossible … less…impossible."

Sam smiled at the remark, but it faded as she remembered her daunting task.

"Where's Lieutenant Elliot?" she asked.

"Lieutenant Elliot and Doctor McKay are in the infirmary. Lantash wanted to stay with the boy, and the Doctor wanted to continue their work."

They entered the infirmary and spotted the sole patient with Janet hovering over him. The two scientists were on the other side of the room, probably sent there by the wards owner.

"**Samantha,**" greeted Lantash. The Tok'ra crossed the room towards them.

"Lantash, Elliot," she returned. "It's good to see you."

"Glad to see me, Major?" asked Rodney, who had worked for her for a short time on the hyperdrive program.

Sam smiled sweetly. "Not in the least."

"General," said Janet, coming over from the other side of the room. "I suppose you want an update on our patient."

"If you have one," said the General.

"I've discovered small levels of an irreversible antagonistic compound in his blood, and it seems to have built up in his lymphatic system."

"I don't understand," said the General. Jack looked like he shared the sentiment.

"The compound is a synaptic inhibitor that has built up in his lymph nodes to a critical mass. Right now it's preventing a certain neurotransmitter from being received, and it's caused a chemically induced immunodeficiency."

"So he's been poisoned?" asked the General.

"In a way," said Janet, "but I don't think that it's anything that's been introduced from an external source. It seems that it's being produced in his body."

"He's poisoning himself?" asked Jack.

"Essentially, yes. Though he's undoubtedly unaware of it. It's the chemical that his brain produces to help his body use his powers. Now normally, he could have gone his whole life using his powers without any ill effect, however Harry here is special."

"The Naquedah in his blood," supplied Sam. "He uses it to help focus the energy."

Janet nodded. Harry had shared much of what he had discovered about himself when he had first studied it with the Tollans. "I believe that the Naquedah, in it's excited state, acts as a catalyst between this chemical and proteins found in his white blood cells, and it's been creating this inhibitor.

"But what about his healing abilities?" asked the General.

Lantash spoke up. "**In a Jaffa, the immune system is replaced by the goa'uld. In a human host however, the symbiote works with the hosts immune system to keep him from sickness. That is why a host is often able to survive the separation.**"

"That's exactly it, sir," said Janet. "Right now what's really keeping him down is a small viral infection. Probably a cold. I've given him a cocktail of anti-virals, but I'm hoping that Lantash here can heal it."

"**There are many viruses that cannot be healed by a hand device alone. If this one does not respond, I will only be able to strengthen his body temporarily.**"

"Now that we know what we're dealing with," said Janet, "I think that now would be a good time."

Lantash nodded. "**I will need a healing device.**"

"Harry had one in his pocket," said Janet, motioning to the tray next to Harry's bed.

!!!!!

Harry opened his eyes slowly, squinting through the sudden light.

"Water," he croaked.

A cup with a straw appeared in front of him, and he drank some, coughing before drinking some more.

"What happened?" he asked.

"You're sick," said a woman standing next to him.

Harry shook his head. He didn't get sick.

"Harry," said a familiar voice. He looked over. It was Sam. He smiled weakly at her. "Janet's right," she said. "There's a build up of an inhibitor in your lymph nodes. You've managed to catch a cold, and you haven't been able to fight it. Lantash has managed to give you some strength, but Janet still needs to figure out how to flush the chemical out of your system."

Harry grimaced. "'m useless," he said.

"Just work on getting better," she said. "If the Tollan's or the Tok'ra think of anything, they'll be able to contact us over subspace."

Harry had a thought. "Why didn't you contact them like that?"

Sam smiled. "We still can't transmit that far out," she said. "Now get some rest."

Harry nodded and slumped back into his pillow. Sam left his bedside, though the doctor stayed with him. Across the room he heard a conversation going.

"I'm sorry General, but science was never my thing, and Lantash is more of an engineer than an astrophysicist."

"Are you saying you can't help?" asked General Hammond.

"I'm saying that I've been as helpful on this problem as I'm going to be."

"He hasn't been completely useless," McKay put in, "but I think we're past what insight he can give us."

"In that case," said the General, "I'm sending you on a mission. Jack, you'll be leading this one."

"Sir?" asked Colonel O'Neill.

"You and Lieutenant Elliot are to find and destroy whatever weapon is doing this, through whatever means necessary. Take an F-302 and find Teal'c. See if he can't be of any use in finding this weapon. Whether or not we're able to save ourselves, that weapon needs to be destroyed."

"Yes sir," said Colonel O'Neill.

Harry's last thought before falling to sleep was that it was a mission that he would have been perfect for.

!!!!!

"Sir," said Elliot, "I want you to know that it's an honor to be going on this mission with you."

Jack rolled his eyes. They were on the tarmac, approaching the F-302 named Abydos-1. "As both an SG team member, and a Tok'ra host, you were the most qualified for a mission like this."

"Oh, I know that, sir. I'm sure that Captain Reynolds or Major Carpenter would have normally been sent on a mission like this, in lieu of Major Carter or Teal'c."

"Good. Have you or Lantash had any ideas on how to find the weapon?"

"Well, the Tok'ra probably don't know anything about this, otherwise they would have sent a ship to our position now, or at least tried to send us a message, so it might be a waste of time trying to get into contact with them. Right now, our best bet is Major Carter's idea."

They did not know of every planet under Anubis' control, but Sam had suggested that any planet they couldn't connect to would conceivably be the planet that the attack originated from. It wasn't a bad plan, but it had the drawback of automatically failing should the weapon be on a planet they didn't know about.

"There's no way to… follow… a wormhole?"

Elliot shook his head. "I don't think the Asgard could even do it, not like how you're suggesting."

"How would you do it then?"

Elliot dipped his head. "**To track a wormhole, you must be connected to the Stargate that has dialed out. From our end, there is nothing to do.**"

"Aren't there energies that can be sent through the gate, something that Tok'ra sensors would be able to pick up?"

Lantash shook his head. "**Again, that could be done from the other end, but the energy you would need to use could only be sent out, not in.**"

"Well, let's hope Carter's plan works then."

!!!!!

When Harry woke again, the clock in his hand device told him that over a day had passed. He saw Sam was just getting ready to leave.

"Sam," he called out to her.

"Harry." She turned around. Good to see you're awake.

"What happened to your hand?" he asked drowsily.

"Rodney had the idea to send an electro-magnetic pulse through the gate, in the hopes of destroying the device that's attacking us."

Harry winced. Most goa'uld technology was immune to such attack, and that which wasn't still took a lot of energy to be disrupted.

Sam nodded. "That's what I thought, but I didn't have any better ideas. Anyway, there was a massive electrical disturbance from the gate."

"How much time is left?"

"With the iris open, we lost a lot of time. We're down to nearly thirty hours."

"Darn," said Harry.

"You know Harry," said Sam with a smile, "it's generally considered appropriate to curse in extreme situations."

"But, it wouldn't be proper."

"The imminent destruction of your home planet generally gives you permission," said Sam.

"Still," said Harry, reaching for an a reasonable excuse, "I'm British."

Sam snorted. "If you say so."

With an aunt like Petunia, you learned quickly to keep a civil tongue. "So I seem to be better," said Harry.

"Janet figured it out," said Sam. "Our researchers at Area 51 found a way to neutralize the chemical that facilitates your powers. With a little tweaking, Janet was able to make it dissolve the inhibitors in your lymph nodes."

Harry was shocked. "You… you figured out how to neutralize me?"

Sam nodded. "We were mostly thinking of your godfather, and people like him when we figure it out."

"Are you saying you haven't thought about trying to keep me here?"

"Oh, we've thought about it." Seeing his look, she continued. "Come on Harry, do you know how many people here are parents? How many want to be? It's programmed into all of us to look at you, and try to remove you from danger."

"But you've decided against it?" asked Harry guardedly.

"You're currently connected to a large ship, Harry. The only way to stop you from accessing it is to put you into a specially shielded bunker indefinitely. When you go to measures like that, it sort of defeats the purpose."

"What's the purpose? Me becoming a regular kid and going to elementary school?"

Sam smiled. "Something like that."

"I'm having trouble imagining it."

"I'm not," said Samantha. "Look, I've got to go now, Harry. You get some more rest. Janet says that you should avoid using your powers for at least two days. The chemical she gave you still did what it was originally designed to do, and we don't know how your body will react to your energy unaided."

Harry had never felt more useless. First he had been completely debilitated by the virus, and now he was virtually powerless. "Wait," he said, "I could go with you."

"Really Harry, you should wait to get cleared by Janet."

"Did you get cleared?" he asked.

She didn't answer the question. "I'll see you later, Harry," she said, walking out the door.

"Traitor!" called Harry after her. He would have followed, but the tubes stuck in his body gave him pause, especially the catheter.

!!!!!

The F-302 dropped out of hyperspace over Theed, which was the largest home to the Jaffa rebellion. Behind Jack, Lieutenant Elliot tried to reach Teal'c's radio.

"This is Lieutenant Elliot of the SGC calling any Jaffa on the planet." After twenty minutes with no response, he addressed Jack. "Should we land, sir?"

"We'll give it ten minutes. I'd rather not use the fuel if we don't have to."

Ten minute's later, they still weren't able to contact anyone on the surface, so Jack took the F-302 into the planet's atmosphere, meaning to find a suitable place to land near the Jaffa encampment. The set down in a large dirt clearing three miles from the camp, which likely was normally used by death gliders. When they reached the camp, they were able to meet with one of the Jaffa in charge. He told them that Teal'c had already learned of the attack, and after much trial and error, Master Bra'tac had found the likely source.

Half an hour later, Jack and Elliot were back in hyperspace, and a young Jaffa volunteer was waiting on P3X-872, where the Prometheus had been sent to first check in. The young Jaffa had an encoded message from Jack, sending them to the planet that Master Bra'tac had found with a rough battle plan. Jack only hoped that they weren't too late.

!!!!!

"The only problem is that the inertial dampeners on the F-302 can't extend outside of it, like they do on most goa'uld ships. That means that there's still a chance that the fighter won't be light enough to achieve escape velocity. We're removing non-essential systems, but it still might not be enough.

Sam was back at Harry's bedside, explaining the situation to him. The Gate had already been taken out of the mountain, and Sam's part of enacting the plan was already over.

"Are you sure you don't want me to take it out in the Tar'Chell?" asked Harry, worried that secrecy wouldn't be worth the potential destruction of the planet.

"Don't worry, Harry. If the F-302 can't leave the atmosphere, it can still escape through hyperspace."

Harry shook his head. "That would kill the pilot, even if the fighter made it through in one piece."

"We've seen ships…"

"Not your ships. A hyperspace window that close to a planet's gravitational pull would put off enough ionizing gamma radiation to kill the pilot right as you go through the window. Goa'uld ships have enough shielding to protect against it, but the F-302 wouldn't shield enough of it."

"But you do it all the time with your micro-hyperspace windows."

"That's as a matter stream. You could throw all the gamma radiation at me you want, and I'd be fine in that state."

Sam nodded. "Then I'll eject beforehand."

Harry looked up at her in surprise. "You're flying the mission?" he asked.

"The Pentagon doesn't think that our remaining pilots are qualified for a mission like this. They want me."

"Really, Sam, I can put the Tar'Chell anywhere and pick up the gate. You don't have to do this."

"You can't guarantee that it won't be seen; al'kesh aren't built for stealth. Either way, our plan gets the gate away from Earth."

Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Okay, look, um… how much does the life support weigh?"

Sam considered this. "Roughly seventy-five pounds, now that we're taking most of it out."

"Where are my clothes?"

"They should be in the cabinet here."

"Bring me my jacket?"

Sam got up and retrieved the jacket and brought it to him. Harry reached into one of the pockets and pulled out his Breather.

"Here, pull the rest of the life support out."

Sam smiled. "You keep a CO2 scrubber in your pocket?"

"You never know what could happen."

"I guess not," said Sam, pocketing the device. "Thanks, Harry."

"Look, Sam, come back, okay?"

"I'll come back, Harry. I still have to figure out how to prevent this from happening again."

"Well they couldn't do it without you. You're the foremost expert on the Stargate," he said, remembering what General Hammond had said.

Sam laughed. "I think that might be you."

"Nah," said Harry, "I'm not going to be here for much longer, so you're going to have to do it."

"Alright, I'll be back. So don't worry about it."

"Okay," said Harry, once again hating the fact that he was stuck in the infirmary.

"So after this, I figure I'm up for some vacation time," said Sam

Harry smiled. "I know just the planet."

!!!!!

Abydos-1 dropped out of hyperspace above the planet they had been sent to, and Jack immediately engaged evasive maneuvers, knowing that any ship in the vicinity would see them on their scanners. At the same time that they appeared, the five other F-302s from the Prometheus that they had coordinated with appeared as well, all making their way to the planet. It had been a leap of faith to assume that the Prometheus would receive their message and send the F-302s in time, but it had paid off. The F-302s were markedly faster than the Prometheus, and Lantash had calculated a reasonable time for them to all be able to strike at the planet together. Prometheus-4 immediately launched a high yield nuclear missile towards the motherships, the sole purpose of which was to create enough radiation to block sensors. Before the detonation, Elliot got a reading on the situation.

"I'm seeing five motherships, sir," said Elliot, "and a squadron of death gliders already in pursuit of a cargo ship."

"How long until we get to show Anubis our newest toy?" asked Jack.

"The Prometheus should be here in ten minutes, sir."

"Alright, Prometheus-2 and 3, render assistance to the cargo ship. Prometheus-4 and Abydos-2, cover our tails. Prometheus-1, you're with me." The five other pilots reported receipt of his orders and they separated, Jack now entering the planet's atmosphere amidst a hail of poorly aimed fire from the half blind motherships. He continued his orders. "Engage motherships at your own discretion. You need to be very precise to bypass their shields through hyperspace."

"Sir, I have a location on the Stargate, and an energy reading that's probably the weapon, I'm sending you the coordinates. We've got four enemy death gliders coming on our six. They will intercept us before we reach weapons range."

"Prometheus-1," said Jack, "launch your tactical towards the incoming."

Prometheus-1 broke off to target the incoming death gliders, and Jack piloted strait towards the weapon.

"Lieutenant," he said, "how long until we're between the motherships and the weapon."

"Forty-seven seconds, sir. Right now, I have three more incoming at twelve o'clock, as well as a dogfight in the vicinity of the weapon, sir. Someone's piloting a death glider against the weapon."

"Can we contact just that death glider?"

"I've opened a channel."

"This is Colonel O'Neill, who am I talking to?"

"It is I, Rya'c. I can see your craft on my sensors."

"If you can, join our formation."

"Sir," said Elliot, "I'm reading a large explosion from orbit. Most likely from a destroyed mothership."

"What can you see up there?"

"I have Prometheus-2 and 3 on scanners, but we're still blind to everything around the initial blast."

"Right."

Up ahead, he could see the oncoming death gliders, and he armed his three interceptor missiles and launched two at their tight formation. One of the missiles managed to take out two of the death gliders, but the other missed. Jack was getting ready to take evasive measures when the third death glider was destroyed from behind. Rya'c had joined them.

"Two death gliders are still on Rya'c's tail," said Elliot.

"Prometheus-1," said Jack, "I am breaking formation for the weapon. Coordinate with Rya'c, and cover us."

"Prometheus-2 is reporting the destruction of Prometheus-3, sir. The cargo ship has intercepted a ring transport."

Jack grimaced at the loss of Major Leonard and Captain Carmichael. "Let's hope that that's Teal'c and Bra'tac on the cargo ship," said Jack as they came into range of the Weapon. He armed their tactical nuclear missile and fired.

"The death gliders tailing Rya'c have moved to intercept our missile," said Elliot.

"Prometheus-1, Rya'c, defend that ordinance," said Jack as he altered course towards the intercepting death gliders. Being in close quarters, he used rail-gun fire to engage the death gliders. One of the enemy fighters broke off towards them. Jack took evasive measures to stay out of the line of the fighter's plasma cannons.

"They're almost on us," said Elliot.

"Not if I can help it," said Jack with a touch of stubbornness.

"They have a lock!" said Elliot. His statement was followed by an explosion from behind them. "Both enemy fighters are destroyed. Ry'ac intercepted them. Missile detonation in six, five, four." Jack immediately altered course towards space, and the battle above them.

"We have detonation, sir. There's too much radiation for the scanners, I have no visual."

Over the radio, a transmission scrambled by static barely came through. "Abydos-2, I have … confirmation on… weapon ... I … weapon is destroyed."

"Excellent, copy that Prometheus 3. Lieutenant, ETA on the Prometheus?"

"One minute sir. I have contact now with Abydos-2 and Prometheus-2, no sign of Prometheus-4."

Jack nodded. "Prometheus-2, tell that cargo ship we have Rya'c, and to leave the system."

"Copy that."

"All fighters join formation. Abydos-2, Prometheus-2, enter Hyperspace now. Prometheus-1, be prepared to escort Rya'c to Prometheus landing bay."

Ahead of them, Abydos-2 was evading three death gliders when it leapt into a hyperspace window.

"Sir," said Elliot, "I have confirmation, Prometheus-2 and the cargo ship have left. At current course and speed, the Prometheus will be between us and three of the motherships when it arrives, but one mothership is moving to intercept."

"Prometheus-1," said Jack, "what's your ordinance?"

"I have no missiles remaining," came the answer.

"Alright, Prometheus-1, continue to escort Rya'c. Elliot, plot a jump to bypass the shields."

"Copy that," came the reply. Behind him, Elliot began the computations. The Prometheus appeared at its prearranged destination as Elliot addressed him.

"We should aim at the pel'tak, assuming the jump goes well."

"Jump at will," he told Elliot. He saw Prometheus-1 and Rya'c breaking to his left as the fighter lurched forward through the hyperspace window for the split second before they lurched back upon exit. Jack pulled back away from the ship's outer hull as Elliot fired the missile at the pel'tak. Seconds later, they entered hyperspace again, coming out again with a good vantage of the battle.

Below them, the Prometheus was taking heavy fire as Prometheus-1 and Rya'c approached it from behind. The aft shields lowered briefly to allow them access, and seconds after the two fighters had disappeared into the ship, the Prometheus entered hyperspace. Jack followed suit.

!!!!!

Harry was finally out of the infirmary, and was now sitting rather uselessly in the conference room where everyone was congregated as Sam tried to reach escape velocity in her F-302. Each step in the engine sequence seemed to be cutting things awfully close, but there hadn't been any problems yet. The one potential problem that was now bothering Harry was that they were cutting things so close that Sam might not be able to escape into hyperspace soon enough.

"Hey Harry," he heard from behind him. He turned in surprise to see Daniel.

"Doctor Jackson," he said, "I didn't know you were out of the hospital." The man was still visibly unwell, but Harry knew that he looked a lot better than he had a month ago.

"Yes, well," said Daniel, "I might have made a break for it when I heard that we were facing imminent destruction. Again. I also heard that you were under Janet's care recently yourself."

Harry grimaced. "Unfortunately. I'm alright now though."

"That's good. So, I've heard about the plan, but no one's told me how they plan to explain the large explosion this thing's going to create."

"I've heard a few of their ideas. They're thinking of saying that a meteor exploded upon impact with the atmosphere."

"Yeah, well, the conspiracy nuts will probably run with it anyway."

"Says the guy involved in one of the largest conspiracies in the history of this planet."

Daniel shrugged. "Any word from Jack or Teal'c?"

Harry shook his head. "The Tollans just called to say that the only thing they could think of is to get rid of the gate."

Daniel laughed. "Anubis has outdone himself if he has the Tollans as stumped as we are."

"Yeah, well it's our turn next. If Jack doesn't manage to destroy the weapon, I'm all for a hunting expedition."

"I wish I could volunteer."

"What do your doctors say?" asked Harry, eliciting a sigh from the archeologist.

"I've got another month or two before I'll be anything resembling adequate. After that, I've got another half a year before they think I'll be ready for active duty."

"What do you think about it?" asked Harry.

"I plan to surprise them."

Harry smiled; glad to hear the fighting spirit in the man. "Good. You know, I've been thinking that I might just surpass Doctor Frasier's expectations as well."

"Oh?" asked Daniel.

"She said not to use my powers for 48 hours, but they say it's dangerous for her to try to land without any fuel, and if the Prometheus doesn't get here in a timely manner, I've half a mind to go up and get her myself."

"Are you sure the first thing you should be doing with your powers is transporting yourself?"

"I said that I'd give the Prometheus a chance," said Harry defensively. He'd be close to the Doctor's timeframe in any case. He knew that he was being more concerned over Sam's safety than he normally was, but everything about the current situation set him on edge.

"So," said Daniel, "did you meet Jonas Quinn over there?" he indicated across the room to the alien man.

Harry nodded. "General Hammond introduced us. He said that getting rid of the gate was sort of Jonas's idea."

Daniel nodded. "He's got a good head on his shoulders. I've been telling Jack that he could make a good replacement for me, until I get back."

"What did Jack say?"

"He didn't seem very excited about the idea."

Across the room, McKay's voice called out, "Velocity at 26,000. Main engine burn… now," he said.

Harry held his breath. Everything was going according to plan, but this was the moment of truth. If Sam didn't make escape velocity now, she would have to send the F-302 into hyperspace and eject, which was a risky maneuver.

"Starflight has reached 40,000," McKay said. There was a collective sigh of relief. "Main engine burn is still going, she's maximizing distance."

Harry looked over to the countdown clock, which was down to just over two minutes.

"Main burn is over," said McKay, "Starflight is releasing the gate."

A few seconds later, the man representing Mission Control via satellite uplink spoke up. "We can confirm that Starflight has jumped into hyperspace. The Stargate is still traveling away from the Earth." There were a number of cheers through the room. Across the room, Harry saw that the General was still waiting for more; probably that the Stargate had exploded with minimal ill effect.

A couple of minutes later, still glued to his laptop, McKay asked, "Is that it?"

"That was the explosion," said Mission Control, "our people are reporting a flash in the sky."

"Is that all?" asked the General.

"I'm getting reports that a few satellites have gone dark. We're expecting a small concussive force down here; nothing that you'd feel. Unless you have DirecTV, you're in the clear."

There were more cheers this time, and the General looked satisfied.

"We're picking up Major Carter, again," said McKay.

Sam's voice came up on the speakers, "Mission Control, it was quite a sight up here." Harry relaxed into his chair with a smile.

The General spoke into the microphone. "I can imagine, Major. Congratulations on a job well done."

"Thank you, sir."

Harry didn't have to bother going to get Sam; five hours later, the Prometheus entered the Solar System. Harry and Daniel were still in the conference room with General Hammond and a few others. It was Jack who answered their hails.

"Colonel," said General Hammond, "what is the status of your mission?"

"Anubis is short one super weapon, one Stargate, and two motherships."

General Hammond smiled broadly, and Harry smirked at the thought of Anubis losing so much to Earth soldiers and technology.

"Sir, we also lost four good pilots in the battle."

General Hammond nodded solemnly. "Their sacrifice will not be wasted. We're going to make Anubis bleed for each one of them."

It was a sentiment shared through the room.

!!!!!

Sirius was gasping for breath as he jerkily ran towards the large complex that supposedly housed the second Stargate. He had been found a mile back, and he had had to fight off the two wizards that had discovered him. He had seconds left before reinforcements would reach him. Reaching the outskirts of the building, the already disillusioned man cast a quick _Diffindo_ at his palm, slicing it open. He allowed a generous amount of blood to fall to the ground before he chanted the ancient incantation: _Servo totus sicco dum meus cruor ago. _Technically it was a bastardization of an ancient incantation, but it would do what he needed, and for the first time he mentally thanked his mother for making him learn the old magic. It was a weak spell actually, but for so long as one blood cell that he had bled onto the ground lived, the building would keep anyone and everyone out. Considering the cold temperature though, he didn't have much time, and he cast a weak warming charm on the area.

Sirius approached a small door. It was guarded by one man, and he Stupefied the guard before unlocking the entrance. Using the point me spell, Sirius made his way invisibly through the complex until he finally reached the large room containing the Stargate. It was more impressive than he had imagined. He cast a muggle repelling charm on the room before sealing it.

Turning around, Sirius examined the two alien machines: the gate and the dialing device. The gate was covered by some manner of shield, which fit within the circle opening. First things first, Sirius destroyed the metal shield and banished the pieces. He turned to the dialing device and cast the spell he had developed for just this purpose. _Iungo iterum_. Nothing happened.

Sirius cursed and examined the device before him. There was a box on top of it, and Sirius opened it to reveal a large red crystal. Supposing that it was a piece of the device that they had removed, Sirius pulled out the crystal and cast _Alohamora_ at the device. The top red button clicked open, and a plate at the bottom fell off. Sirius swung open the red button first, revealing a spot that looked like it would fit the crystal. He placed the large crystal into the device, and immediately the crystal and the surrounding pieces all lit up. Smiling, Sirius replaced the lid and cast his spell once more.

Buttons on the device began to light up, and the wheel on the gate began to spin as it lit up as well. Sirius let out a quick cheer as he grinned up at the Stargate. He cast a quick spell upon himself, which would protect him from both extremes of pressure and temperature; he didn't know what he would find on the other side. The gate finished dialing and a blue vortex shot out of it, before falling back into a shimmering pool that looked like water.

Sirius walked forward, not hesitating in the face of the magnificent sight. His feet faltered when he heard over a dozen pops from Apparation. He turned to face his attackers, raising a shield as he backed up towards the gate. Sirius conjured a swarm of bees before banishing the lot towards them. The bees were met with fire, even as Sirius launched spells through the blaze, and defended from the Russian spells coming back at him. Nearly at the pool of light, Sirius turned and jumped through the gate. It was not before a sickly blue spell struck him in the head though.

The first thought that entered his head as he appeared on the other side was not amazement over the fact that he had just traveled to another planet; it was that his head had never hurt more than it did now. His second thought was that he was surrounded by water. Even through the pain, he managed a quick and garbled bubblehead charm. Able to breathe once more, Sirius took several deep breaths as he concentrated on pushing the pain aside. The gate next to him shut down.

He had no idea what the spell was that had hit him, but he could feel what it was doing to him. Memories were being eaten away; his past was being taken from him. Knowing that he didn't have much time, Sirius swum to the dialing device and focused on remembering the spell he had created to find Harry.

"Oratio pro Harry Potter, meus filius per sacramentum." His wand wrenched out of his hand and pointed to one of symbols on the gate. He repeated the process six more times, even as he struggled to focus on it, and not on what he was losing. The symbols all pressed, Sirius fumbled for the information on what to do next. He remembered the red button and pressed it, and once more the vortex of light rushed out.

Sirius swam forward. As he reached the gate, he perceived an odd sensation through the pain, as though the water was pulling away from him. He swam through the event horizon and was dry when he fell out on the other side. He finally let himself collapse, staying on the ground. He lay on the stone platform, staring up at the blue sky, as footsteps approached him. A man leaned over him, and Sirius struggled to hold on to why he was there.

"I have to protect Harry," he whispered to the man above him. "I need to find my godson." He repeated himself over and over, keeping the one though in the front of his mind, so that it could be safe from the spell. He didn't stop.

A/N: You never expected for me to make it easy on Sirius, now did you? At least he has made it off Earth. This branch of the story is going to end within a few chapters, but I am already planning a sequel. You're all lucky to be getting this chapter, since it's a rather hectic time. I'm a student again this Monday (with no open classes), and fires are threatening my home. Fear not though, I am working now on the next chapter of A New Home.


	10. 10 Binding

Binding

The room was just as he had remembered it. Perhaps the items that littered the room were different, but the clutter and disarray were the same. Dudley's second bedroom was still filled with his cast-off toys. Harry could see the computer that had once been the crowning piece in Dudley's bedroom sitting in a heap in one of the corners. He realized that he couldn't remember if it had been broken before or after he had left.

Harry had always known that a trip back to Earth would include a trip back to his once home in Surrey. He was not sure if there was something left undone or unsaid, or if there was something that he had perhaps left behind. Whatever it was, he supposed that it was a part of the reason why he had always been reticent to come back to Earth. Not knowing about this magic suppressor, his safety had always been nearly assured by his ability to bring the Tar'Chell along. However, with the world saved and a clean bill of health from Doctor Frasier, he decided that there was nothing keeping him from making the trip anymore.

Harry took a deep breath and walked over to the door. It was nearly five thirty in the afternoon, so he expected both his aunt and uncle were home. Walking down the stairs, his supposition was confirmed when he heard them talking in the kitchen. He walked up to the kitchen door and stopped, mentally checking to make sure that he really wanted to go in before he opened the door.

His relatives stopped their conversation as the door swung open. Harry noted that Dudley didn't seem to be in the house, and was probably at a friend's. Harry had his aunt and uncle to himself. They had both become quite pale suddenly.

"You!" his aunt exclaimed in a shocked whisper.

"Hello Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon."

His uncle finally spoke. "What in the bloody blue blazes are you doing here, boy?!"

"Vernon!" his aunt scolded. Harry raised his eyebrows in surprise at her reaction.

"That boy put me in jail for five months," the man said in a barely restrained voice. "I don't want him in this house for one minute!"

"Vernon, what if the police found out that we had put him out on the street?"

"You went to jail? Seriously?"

His aunt finally glowered at him, and said as evenly as possible, "Apparently it is illegal in this country to confine a child in such a small space. The authorities were displeased to find your bedroom."

"Right," said Harry. He hadn't been aware of that fact. Though considering that no one had listened to him when he had told them about it before, he didn't see how the information would have changed anything. "Anyway, you don't have to worry about me staying, Uncle. I don't plan on being here long. I suppose that, well, you should know that I'm never coming back here, but I am safe… you don't really care about anything past that I'm not coming back, I guess. Um, I don't suppose any of my stuff is still here?"

"Why would we have kept it?" asked his aunt with a sniff, "We binned everything that the police didn't take as evidence." She sniffed again at that, probably still ruffled by the fact that they had been involved with the police in any way.

"I guess that that's it then," said Harry, wondering if anything had been accomplished by coming. It was a little rewarding, he supposed, to learn that his uncle had spent time in prison, even if only for a portion of his crimes. He had a sudden thought.

"What about my parents. Is there anything you haven't told me about them?"

His aunt huffed once more, and Harry could tell that she was nearing the end of her hold on her temper, and with it would come her hold over her husband's. "I barely knew your mother in the end, and I never knew your father, boy. All you need to know is what we told you. They died in a crash."

"Yeah," said Harry, "but I know that that's not true. I've been shown a report that says that they were both murdered in their home. I also know that I'm special, I have abilities. I think that my parents had them too, and I think you know about them."

Now his aunt was really glaring at him with everything that she had. His uncle stormed to the other side of the kitchen, as though to be as far from the conversation as possible. Though he too was looking at Harry as though he was wishing for the days when disciplining him had necessitated keeping him out of school for a few days.

His aunt finally spoke. "Yes. They had an… unnaturalness… about them; that gave them 'abilities'. You think you're special," she said with scorn. A knocking could be heard from the front door, but they all ignored it. "You're a freak, and we've always known it. Did you think that we couldn't see your pitiful attempts to make us like you? Make us _love_ you. We saw them; we knew what you were doing. But what good, normal person could love a thing like you? You say that you're not staying? Well good. Leave us, and for the first time in your miserable life, give us some peace."

Every word was calculated and sure. The worst part was that she never shouted as he was used to. He stood there stoically as she spoke, trying not to let it show that her words were affecting him, when in reality, each one had struck home. He was tempted to lash out with his powers, to pull the house down on their heads, and burry them in rubble. He told himself though that they weren't worth it. He spat on his aunt's immaculate floor instead. Even as he was opening a micro-wormhole to leave, he wasn't sure that he believed himself.

Harry reappeared in his bedroom aboard the Tar'Chell. He took a couple of deep breaths, but gave up on that and punched the wall hard enough to put hairline fractures in a few of the bones in his hand. He waved it around.

"Damn it!" he swore.

He turned and sunk down against the wall, coming to rest on the ground cradling his injured hand and breathing hard. His aunt had had him pegged, he thought, he really had been pathetic back then. A poor orphan boy doing whatever he could to get through life without curling up in despair. But he was sure that he hadn't been the freak in that house. Big deal if he had abilities, they were the criminals.

He stood up, using his good hand for support, though his healing abilities were already going to work on his broken bones. He headed into the control room to consult the map of the world that he had been provided. It really was time he took a vacation.

!!!!!

Sam opened her eyes and caught the rare glimpse of morning sunlight streaming through her bedroom window. She was normally awake by six o'clock, but having had next to no sleep for the last few days, she though that she deserved a lie in after having helped to save the world. A glance at her clock showed that it was getting close to eleven. She smiled in guilty pleasure.

Her attention turned to what had originally woken her, the blaring telephone next to her bed. She picked it up.

"Samantha Carter," she said as way of greeting.

"Sam," Harry's young voice surprised her. It was like seeing the General go in to watch the same movie you were going to, or bumping into your history teacher on the street. That Harry would call her on her home phone seemed surreal.

"Harry," she said, "I thought that you'd left."

"I had some business I had to attend to," he answered, somewhat evasively. "Anyway, I thought that it's time I took a little vacation, and I thought maybe you could join me for the day."

"Harry, I can't just leave the planet without clearance."

"Who said anything about leaving the planet? You won't even need your passport. How do sunny beaches and palm trees sound to you?"

Wow. When was the last time she had been to a beach without wearing BDUs and a tactical vest? "You know what, Harry? That actually sounds great."

"Cool," said Harry. "Um, do you know where Samuel's Donut Shop is?"

"Yeah," said Sam, "right next to the movie theatre?"

There was a pause at the other end. "Yeah."

"Alright, give me twenty minutes."

After calling in to the base she had initially gone into a packing frenzy before remembering that for a single day she could just buy anything she needed. She made sure she had her wallet and her phone before going to grab her camera. Two minutes later she was out the door.

She found Harry outside of the donut shop, standing by a pay phone. She found a shady spot to park in and got out to go greet him. He was grinning as she approached him, and wearing a relaxed Tollan outfit.

"Hey, Sam," he said.

"Hello, Harry," she replied. "I hadn't realized that Earth had made such an impression on you. How long are you planning on staying?"

"I'm not planning anything. I figure we can make a day of it, and then I'm back to fighting the war."

"Well, if a day's all I have you for, I might as well make the most of it," she said.

"Too right," he said. "How does Hawaii sound?" he asked.

"Hawaii," she said, surprised. "When you said sandy beaches and palm trees, I thought you were talking about California."

"Oh, well, I've never been to California."

"You've been to Hawaii?"

"Well no," said Harry. "But then, it is Hawaii."

Sam didn't have an argument for that.

"Come on," said Harry. "There's a sheltered door around back. I think it's an emergency exit to one of the theatres. If anyone sees us disappear into it, they'll just assume someone's letting us in through the back."

Less than a minute later they were in Kauai, the fourth largest of the islands. Sam looked around; the sun had barely made an appearance. She supposed that it was about seven o'clock in the morning here.

"Where are we?" she asked.

"We're a little ways into Waimea Canyon. It's even nicer than the pictures. I figured that no one would see us appear out of nowhere out here.

"Well, said Sam, "it looks like you were right."

"Ooh," said Harry. "I can see the ocean from here."

Sam turned to look where he was staring. The ocean was visible in the distance.

"I've never been to an ocean on Earth before," said Harry.

"No?" asked Sam.

Harry shook his head. "My class once went to the beach for a field trip," he said, "but the Dursley's wouldn't sign my permission slip."

"Well," said Sam, "we'll be getting a closer look before the day is done."

"That's the plan. Right, so there's supposed to be a big town at the mouth of this river. It's a short walk from here.

After a little walking through the tropical wilderness they came to a road that followed the river and followed it into town, enjoying the cool and shady morning. A few cars were already going by in either direction at the early hour. Once they had reached the outskirts of the town, they were able to take a bus into the already bustling beach area.

"What should we do first?" asked Harry.

"Well," said Sam, "seeing as I haven't eaten anything in the past fourteen hours, my vote is for breakfast."

"Ooh," said Harry, "let's get pancakes."

"Harry, we're on vacation in Hawaii. You can't take a vacation and not sample the local cuisine."

"So what do we eat instead?"

"I don't know," said Sam. "Why don't we find a place that's open, and see what they suggest."

The first restaurant serving breakfast that they found recommended a dish called the Loco Moco. Sam ordered two. It turned out to be two hamburger patties on a bed of steamed rice, topped with fried eggs and gravy.

"It's tasty, I guess," said Harry around a bite of hamburger. "Though I'm not sure that it feels very Hawaiian."

"Well," said Sam, "you can tell that there are different cultural influences in the food, and I guess that's what Hawaii is."

"You sound like Daniel," Harry commented.

After breakfast, they decided that they needed to do a little shopping for the day.

"Sunscreen definitely," said Sam.

"I'm immune to the sun," said Harry.

Sam replied, "Well I, like the rest of your fair skinned brethren, must hide from the sun. We'll need swimsuits too."

"Oh," said Harry, "well you can go swimming, but I don't know how to."

"You don't know how to swim?" asked Sam.

Harry shook his head. "The Dursleys never got me lessons. Probably hoped that I'd drown one day."

"Sure," said Sam, "but you have the combined knowledge of at least three symbiotes."

"They all had host's that came from the desert, and recreational sports aren't exactly big on the list for fun goa'uld activities."

"You're saying that in their thousands of years they never swam?"

Harry shrugged. "What can I say? They're goa'uld."

"Okay. You're still getting a suit though. You are not leaving this island without learning how to swim. I'm sure that you're a fast learner."

"Er, alright. I suppose it couldn't hurt to try."

Fifteen minutes later, Harry was walking out of a fitting room, tugging at the nylon fabric of the swimming trunks that he was wearing. He approached Sam.

"Hey Harry, how is it," she asked.

"I don't know. There's this weird mesh material on the inside. Do you know what it's for?"

"No clue," answered Sam. "I think all the trunks have them though. If it bother's you, I'm sure you could try a Speedo."

A mental image of himself wearing nothing but a form-fitting swimsuit flashed through his mind, and Harry shook his head quickly. "This is fine," he said.

They asked around and found a public swimming pool on the outskirts of town. They had both thought that it would be a good idea for Harry to learn to swim in standing water, rather than in the river or the ocean. Sam started by teaching him to float, which was harder than Harry would have thought. It didn't help that his heavy golden hand device was weighing him down on one side. They gave up on floating in favor of treading water, which Harry found to be much easier than floating.

Fortunately Harry was still a quick learner and it wasn't long before he had the front stroke and the backstroke down. Their task complete, they made their way to the beach, since one does not spend their time in Hawaii in a swimming pool.

His feet sinking into the sand, Harry turned to Sam and said, "Okay, I've learned how to swim. _Now_ we're not leaving the island until we make a sand castle."

They crammed as much into their one day of vacation as they could. They relaxed on the beach, sampled more of the local cuisine, and ended their day with a trek back into the canyon. There was supposed to be a nice spot to watch the sun set over Ni'ihau Island in the distance.

Sam spoke up as they sat on the stone outcropping, waiting for the sun to reach the horizon. "So this was a spontaneous vacation, huh?"

"Yeah," said Harry, "I was just going to leave, but I figured that I'd always wanted to come here, so why not."

"Plus, you had that business before."

"Right," said Harry.

"So how were the Dursleys?"

"What makes you think that I saw the Dursleys?" asked Harry defensively.

"Well," said Sam, "all things considered, they're the only bit of unfinished business I can think of that you would have here on Earth. Plus, you confirmed it when you avoided the question."

Harry sighed. "You know, my uncle went to jail for a few months over me."

Sam nodded. "I'd heard about that."

"You never mentioned," Harry accused her.

"You never asked," was the obvious and overused response.

"I probably didn't want to know, I guess. I wonder if he managed to get his job back."

"He did," said Sam. "I guess he's good at his job."

"What else do you know?" asked Harry.

"Not much," said Sam. "Your aunt got off with a fine, and she got to stay home to care for your cousin."

"I figured," said Harry. "Better than they deserved, I think. You know, I never knew that it was against the law for them to keep me under the stairs."

"I'm pretty sure that it's a fairly standard law in most civilized countries."

"Yeah, well, they got off easy, I think."

Sam paused. "You know, we always figured the odds were that it was probably worse than just the cupboard."

Harry shrugged. "It wasn't so terrible. I mean, I got through it."

"Yeah," said Sam. "So how did the visit go?"

"It wasn't a visit," said Harry. "The Dursley's were just… a loose end." He answered her question. "My aunt admitted that my parents were murdered, and that they were like me."

"Anything else?" asked Sam.

"No," said Harry. "I didn't stick around. They didn't want me there."

"Things didn't go too well?"

Harry waited before answering. "You know, I've fought in major battles, I know things that could warp their minds, I could destroy that house and everything in it. But she can destroy me, you know? Verbally, I mean. And I don't have anything to say to her." He shook his head. "I always thought that I'd hate my Uncle more."

"What did she say?"

"The words unlovable and freak may have been used."

"Well," said Sam, "she couldn't have been further from the truth."

Harry laid his head on her arm.

She continued. "And what does freak mean, if not 'better than she'll ever be'."

"I like that."

"Well, good. Nice sunset, huh?"

"Yeah."

!!!!!

It was his hand device that woke him; he had an urgent communication being relayed from the Tar'Chell. It was a video message, but Harry set the ship's computer to convert the speech into text before reading it through his mental connection with the hand device. He groaned and opened his eyes.

A wide field of stars greeted him, lacking most of the light pollution that he had grown up with in Surrey. He and Sam had fallen asleep stargazing. He sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, before waking Sam next to him.

"Mm, what time is it?" she asked.

"Almost midnight," he answered. "I just got a message from Tollana, they need me there as soon as possible. Did you guys finish installing the Tollan gate?" A day after the gate had exploded, the Tollans had sent a ship to Earth with a Tollan made gate.

"They were still running diagnostics on the gate when I left, but it should be working by now."

Harry nodded. "I take it you want to come with me?" he asked, on the off chance that she wanted to remain on the island.

"I wouldn't say that I want to," she replied, "but they're expecting me in the morning."

"Okay," said Harry. "It's almost seven there now, actually. Sorry about the jet lag."

"No more than I'm used to."

Harry took her hand and their mater streams disappeared into hyperspace. Ten minutes later, he was walking through the Tollan Stargate, after having remotely sent his ship on ahead. He was greeted by a lieutenant, who gestured for him to stand with him beside the gate. He introduced himself as Jarril. The gate began dialing again once the event horizon had dissipated.

"Where are we going?" asked Harry.

"To our drop world." That was what the Tollans called the world that unauthorized travelers were relayed to.

"Is there someone there you want me to meet?"

"That depends on whether his life can be sustained."

Harry nodded. Early on in the war, it had become evident that while the Tollan security system prevented any attack on the world via the Stargate, it also prevented injured allies from gating to help, should they try to gate to Tollana without the proper signal. There had been such an incident where a lethally wounded Jaffa had died upon being sent to the other planet. Since then, a medical team had been stationed there, deep underground and accessible only through a hidden transport pad.

"One of our allies."

The lieutenant shook his head. "We do not know who he is, though he seems to know you. What we do know is that he seems to have been attacked by the same energy that you use. We have been unable to remove it, only to halt it's progress. We have been forced to shut down all of the patient's brain function to keep him alive."

"Tell me more," said Harry.

"That is all that I know. He was of course cleared for all forms of traps from the goa'uld before the healers were able to approach him. They will have more information for you. I believe that it is their hope that you will be able to dissipate this energy."

"I will do what I can," said Harry, intrigued by the evidence that there could be someone else like him out there.

They stepped through the active gate and in what seemed an instant they were standing on another world. They stepped out on a stone platform before a grassy field, much like the one on Tollana. In the distance, he could see the holographic facsimile of the new Tollan capitol. The point being that if an unknown person gated to the world without being aware of the switch, that they could be observed for a time without becoming immediately aware of the duplicity.

Upon his arrival, Harry became faintly aware of being scanned from multiple points. His identity confirmed, one man appeared a short distance away from a hidden transport pad. Harry and Jarril walked over to him.

"Captain Potter, Lieutenant," the man greeted them. "I am Lannar, one of the Healers stationed here. It is a pleasure to meet you, captain."

"And you as well," Harry replied.

The man beckoned the two of them to stand nearer him, and they disappeared once more, reappearing once again with the faint smell of ozone in the medical complex, which was obviously of Tok'ra design. While Tollan technology was still vastly superior to most goa'uld technology, Tok'ra crystals were still the easiest way to build anything deep under ground.

"What can you tell me?" Harry asked the Healer.

"There are two energy matrices on the man similar to the energy that you yourself use. The one on his leg has caused an odd injury, though for now it will have to wait. The energy centered within the patient's skull is assaulting his mind in a most peculiar way. It began by completely erasing his life's memories, his knowledge of his life and past events. He was able to halt its progress only by keeping as much information as he could in the forefront of his mind."

"What was that?"

"He kept repeating the same thing. 'I have to protect Harry. I need to find my godson.' Being that you are the only Harry on Tollana, this has of course led us to believe that the man believes himself to be your godfather."

"How could he be?" asked Harry. "If he's from Earth, the SGC certainly never let him use the Stargate."

"We did analyze his voice," said Lannar. "His accent does closely match your own."

"Does Earth not have two Stargates?"

Harry had forgotten that Jarril was still there and looked at him in surprise.

"All officers are trained to know about the allies and enemies of Tollana," the man said simply.

Harry nodded. "As I recall, Russia is in possession of a Stargate, and a dialing device. It does not explain how he could have known to gate to Tollana." He shook his head; it would have to be a mystery for another time. "You were saying, Lannar?"

The man nodded. "For so long as the patient held this information in his conscious mind, the energy matrix seemed to be at a standstill. We deduced that the energy could dissipate if we suppressed the parts of his brain that it was attacking and we did so, only for the energy to move on to his lexical memories, his knowledge. We suppressed that part of his mind and it moved on to attack the limbic system, emotional processing and memory. We reacted more quickly that time, and in this manner it moved from there to his higher motor functions, and then finally to his brain stem, where it attempted to kill him. His entire mind is now suppressed but the energy remains, as though waiting for the mind to become active once again, and we do not feel comfortable with any plan we can think of to remove it."

Harry was entirely perplexed. He could think of no way to manipulate zero point energy and exotic particles in such a way to do anything like this. Lannar described the energy as though it were alive.

"Who would use something like this?" asked Jarril.

Lannar answered, "Presumably, someone who wanted no chance of the victim's mind being revived after death."

"Or someone who wanted to kill a man as cruelly as possible," said Harry, "stripping his identity from him, piece by piece before death."

Lannar cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Another possibility."

"And I suppose you want me to try to remove it?" asked Harry.

The healer nodded. "If you can."

"Take me to him," said Harry.

They went into a large room with a dozen medical beds, all equipped with their own scanners and tools. The patient was laid out on the one nearest to the door-less entryway. The other Healer was still attending to him.

"Captain Potter," the man greeted him. "I assume that you are willing to help?"

Harry nodded. "Is there any more data that you can give me on the energy matrix?"

The Healer nodded and activated a holographic projector, which displayed both a three dimensional representation of the matrix and a read out of pertinent data. Harry took in as much of it as he could, though it was terribly complex. He nodded.

"I will need to make a more direct observation of the matrix," he said.

"Go ahead," said the Healer.

Harry approached the patient, for the first time taking in the man's appearance. He was tall and thin, with long black hair. It was obvious that the years had not been kind to him. He matched Sam's description of the man who had rescued her aboard the Prometheus. He wondered if the man could truly be his godfather. He sent out his energy tentatively, trying to get a feel for the matrix within the man's mind.

In a way, it was like the feel of Anubis's possession of his body. There was the same sense of darkness and a tangible feeling of malice that accompanied the energy. Harry got the feeling that the man had not come to be in this state by accident.

It was a while before Harry thought that he had a feel for the energy, enough to try to separate it from the man's mind and then neutralize the energy. He didn't get very far before it leapt out at him, latching onto him. Harry fell back in shock, even as he was marshaling his defenses against the energy.

He could hear shouting from above him, but Harry tuned out the rest of the world as he did his best to keep the energy from actually latching onto his mind. The matrix really did seem to be alive as it struck at him again and again, trying to get past his defenses and into his mind. Distantly, he was aware of his body being picked up and placed on one of the beds, but his attention remained on the attack. Finally, a tendril of energy managed to slip past him, and it latched onto his brain, drawing the rest along with it. It was pain almost as bad as what Harry remembered from Isis, but he kept fighting the energy, keeping it from having a chance to destroy any of his own memories.

Suddenly, he heard a voice from within his own mind.

'What a nasty curse. Now what to do about it?'

There was no apparent source for the voice, nor a presence like that of Anubis or a parasite. Harry didn't have time to ponder the voice though, as he could feel himself losing the battle against the energy. Suddenly though, everything stopped. The energy remained, settled within his mind, but it was frozen.

'That's better,' said the voice. 'Now to get rid of it…'

Harry didn't waste any time before assaulting the now inert energy, neutralizing the different energy fields and dissipating the exotic particles.

'Now that is interesting,' said the voice. 'I suppose we can wait to speak in the real world.'

Harry was left in silence. It took him a while, but he was able to remove all traces of the energy. A curse, the voice had called it. Harry opened his eyes finally to take in the world around him.

The man who had initially been the patient was sitting on the bed across from him, the lieutenant looking over him, while the two healers were hovering over him.

"All better now?" asked the man, using the same voice as the one from his head.

Harry nodded wearily, his head pounding. "They woke you up, I see."

"We did not," said Lannar.

"It was I," said Jarril. "When it became apparent that the only thing that they knew to do was to suppress your mind as they had his, I decided that his input could be valuable, now that his own mind was free. It proved to be the correct decision."

"We did not authorize that," said the other healer. Jarril remained unapologetic.

"I don't suppose that you know what's going on," asked the man, looking around with a lost look on his face, "because these blokes won't say anything."

"You're British," said Harry. Aside from the Dursley's earlier that day, he had not heard his native tongue but from his own mouth since his abduction.

"That I am," said the man, "allow me to guess, you're from the London area."

"Surrey," Harry nodded.

The man looked around. "I don't suppose we're in Surrey," said the man "this doesn't seem to be like any hospital I've ever been in, muggle or magical. And I certainly can't place their accents. They aren't American, are they?" Harry shook his head. "What's your name, by the way?"

"Harry," said Harry.

"Harry?" asked the man, taken by surprise. "Harry Potter?" he asked again, as though he did not dare to hope that it was true.

Harry nodded.

"I've been looking for you for so long. I can't tell you how good it is to have found you at last." The man shook his head wistfully. "It's so strange. I know I've never seen you before, but your face is so familiar."

Harry nodded slowly. The part of the man's mind that recognized faces would have nothing to compare his face to, but if Harry looked anything like his parents, and if this man was his godfather, then Harry's features could still hold a measure of emotional valence with the man.

"How long has it been, exactly?" Harry asked tentatively.

"I um… I can't say, I suppose," said the man contemplatively.

"Do you remember searching for me?" When the man didn't answer immediately, Harry continued. "Do you remember your name?"

It did not take long for the man's confusion to turn into panic. "I don't understand. What's going on, where am I?"

"Do you know who I am to you?" asked Harry carefully.

"You're my godson," the man replied with conviction.

"Then you knew my parents," said Harry, "do you remember them?"

The man searched for an answer, but eventually had to shake his head.

"The energy matrix you found around me, what you called a curse, it initially attacked you. It destroyed all of your memories. Everything from your past, everything you know about yourself. It's gone, and your doctors are pretty sure that they can't be recovered."

"That can't be," the man said. "I can remember things, I…" The man looked to the two healers who had up until then stood silently by Harry's bed. "Is it true? Is it all gone?"

"I am afraid so," said the Lannar nearest to the man. "The information is not repressed or blocked, it is simply gone. And it is not simply your memories; while the majority of your knowledge remains intact, a sizeable amount was destroyed before we could halt the progress of the energy matrix."

The man, whose name they might never learn, was becoming visibly upset. "Who did this to me?" he asked.

"We don't know," answered Harry, empathizing more and more with the man whose life had been completely destroyed. "All we know is that you came to this world through the Stargate, presumably trying to find me."

"Stargate? I don't understand, what do you mean this world?"

"I guess you don't remember. Perhaps more recent knowledge was attacked first, though I couldn't say for certain. The Stargate is an ancient device that allows nearly instantaneous travel between two worlds."

His godfather laughed bitterly. "There's no magic that could do that. Sure, the old magic is strong, but we have only ever dreamed about venturing to other planets."

"I never said anything about magic," said Harry. "It's technology, science. The universe is far more complex than you have ever had reason to believe. There are people out here, living on hundreds of planets. Now as best as I can tell, you discovered the Stargate program running in the States while you were looking for me. I know that you didn't come here through that gate though, so I'm guessing that you found the one in Russia."

"You think that I infiltrated Russia?" his godfather asked.

"That's what the evidence suggests," said Harry.

"No wonder I was cursed so badly," said his godfather. "I know, I remember, that you are very important to me. But you'd have to be mad to try to get through Russia, or desperate. They've been closed to the rest of the magical world since the end of the Cold War."

"Yes, well," said Harry, "as I understand things, this wasn't your first attempt at leaving the planet." He was dying to ask about this magical 'world', that his godfather kept mentioning, but knew that his own questions could wait until later.

"Okay. So we're left with me as a blank slate on another planet." His godfather took a deep breath. "Do you know anything about me?" he asked. "Do you know what I'm missing? I mean, should I want to remember?"

"I'm sorry," said Harry. "The thing is that if you're my godfather, then you still haven't seen me since I was one and my parents died. My relatives, the people who raised me, didn't tell me anything about my parents. As to whether you should want to remember, well you told a friend of mine once that you had spent years in a place you called Hell on Earth. You can make of that what you will."

His godfather shook his head. "I don't know what to make of that." He sighed. "I must have known your parents pretty well, if they made me your godfather. How did they die?"

"They were murdered," said Harry. "That's all that I know."

"Murdered," the man croaked. "I'm sorry, that must be awful."

"Yeah," said Harry, "I guess it is."

"You know, I look at your face, and it isn't just that sense of familiarity, it's like I'm staring into my own childhood. Like you're from a moment in time when I didn't have a care in the world. And I'm trying to grasp that feeling, to hold onto it, but it keeps on slipping away. There's nothing there. Where do I go from here?"

"Well," said Harry, "you could do with a name."

"A name?"

"First things first," said Harry. "We'll sort out what we can, and leave the rest to work itself out, but I think that we should have something to call you in the meantime."

"Alright," said his godfather. "There is a way to find my name, a spell. But what is it?"

"How would that work?" asked Harry, intrigued.

"Your name is a part of you," said his godfather, "whether you know it or not." He was obviously deep in thought. "I should know this," he said, "I know that I know it."

Lannar spoke up. "It will not be so easy now, to remember how to do many things. The information may be there, but you won't always remember how to retrieve it. You may have to work out how this 'spell' could work, before you remember how it does work."

He nodded distractedly. "Let's see, blood is important… and the incantation. Um, dicum, nomen, appelloto. Appelloto Cruror!" The man reached into his jacket and pulled out a large quill. Harry couldn't see how the thing had been kept in such a nice condition considering where it was carried, but didn't worry about it. From another pocket, the man pulled out a small knife, held up the stick that he had been holding through the encounter, waved it at the knife and said, "Sanitarum," before waving it at his opposite hand and repeating the gesture. He made a small cut on the palm of his hand and dipped the quill into the small pool of blood that appeared, before laying it flat on the pillow at the head of his bed. Once again he waved his wand and muttered, "Appelloto Cruror." The quill suddenly stood up and wrote 'Sirius Black' on the pillow case.

"Sirius Black," said Sirius. "What do you think?"

"It's um, fine," said Harry. "How did you do that, exactly?" He was entirely perplexed.

"It's a simple blood spell," said Sirius, "any sufficiently skilled wizard could perform it, though I don't suppose that many would have the need."

"No," said Harry, "I mean how does it work? You don't know your name, there's nothing in your blood to indicate a name, so how does the pen know what to write?"

Sirius shrugged. "Everything's connected. It's one of the tenets of magic, one of the basic precepts of Transfiguration. My name has always been a part of me, and whether I know it or not, I'll still be able to search out that connection. Sirius," he repeated his name. "It feels right, I suppose. Enough talk of magic. If I can't find my memories for myself, then you will have to fill in what you know."

"Well," said Harry, "it's a long story."

!!!!!

The start of a new school year was always hectic, and Albus was often found in his office well through the evening. It was only two day's until the student's arrived, and Albus had only barely been able to find a replacement Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Yet in spite of all he had to do, the alarm that stole his attention from his work, though not expected, was not ill received. Harry Potter had returned to Privet Drive. Albus leapt up from his desk, making his way to the Floo.

When young Harry Potter had been abducted, Albus had placed wards around the house so that he would be alerted should the boy ever return on his own. Although Albus had never planned to interfere with the boy's life before Harry's first year at Hogwarts, given the circumstances, he could not simply trust that the boy was alright.

Throwing some powder into the Floo, Albus shouted out the address for Arabella Figg's house and stepped in. Mere seconds later he stepped out once more into the cat infested living room of the woman he had asked to watch Harry so long ago.

"Arabella," he called out.

The woman rushed down the stairs in a bathrobe, he hair in curlers. "Professor Dumbledore, what's happening?"

"It's Harry, the wards around Privet Drive have alerted me to his presence. Have you heard anything about him being found?"

"No, Professor. I would have told you right away if I had. Do you think that he's come back on his own?"

"I don't know, my dear, though I do hope so." What he had seen in the memory of Vernon Dursley still troubled him. He was certain that the boy had been possessed, and could only hope that that was no longer the case.

"I will go to the Dursleys' house; I hope, to find good news," he told her.

"What are you going to do with the boy?" asked Arabella. "You certainly cannot leave him with the muggles again," she said.

"Unfortunately, the matter of the boy's custody will likely prove to be a complicated political matter. For now though, I must see to the boy's safety. I will return shortly."

Albus left the house at a brisk walk, not wanting to use any overt magic in the muggle neighborhood. It did not take him long to reach the Dursley's front door. He knocked and waited, cursing his own wards, which prevented any wizard but Harry from forcing their way into the house. While he could circumvent them with enough time, knocking was likely the fastest means of gaining entry. When a full minute had passed, Albus cast a knocking spell on the door, which would ensure that the sound reverberated around the entire house. A mere five seconds later the spell was canceled with the opening of the door. Albus once more found himself in the presence of Vernon Dursley.

"You!" the man accused.

"Yes, Mr. Dursley, it is I. Now I know that Harry is here, so please bring me to him."

"Well, you're too late. The boy's gone, disappeared, like he was never here."

Albus sighed as he stepped across the threshold. "It would seem then, Mr. Dursley, that I am in need of a new memory."


	11. 11 Learning

Disclaimer: I don't own the Stargate franchise or Harry Potter, nor am I affiliated with either. I am only taking them for a joy ride. I hope I don't scratch the fender.

Learning

"My voters are getting worried Albus! The Potter boy disappearing, and then that trouble with his relatives. Sirius Black is still on the loose, and now there's all of this chatter about something happening in Russia, when we haven't heard anything from them in nearly a decade! My approval rating is the lowest it's been since I first took office."

Albus sighed, wishing not for the first time that Fudge was not of the opinion that Albus cared at all about the man's career. It was helpful though for the man to believe it. He knew that he could never trust himself to wield the power of the Ministry, but he had no qualms against using his influence on the minister; especially when the man was surrounded by people like the Malfoys, and his atrocious under secretary Umbrage.

The two of them were in Albus's office; the Minister had come himself, in lieu of one of his usual owls.

"Then perhaps now would be a good time to tell the world that Harry Potter is alive and well, if still missing."

The minister gaped at him, completely distracted from his former line of thought. "He's been spotted?"

"Indeed, just yesterday at noon," replied Albus. "The boy visited his relatives, and seemed to be in good health."

"You said you were monitoring the situation," Fudge countered, "how did he get away from you?"

"Alas, he employed a form of magic that I am unfamiliar with to leave the premises. Further analysis showed that he used the same method to enter."

The minister looked aghast. "You don't suppose," he said quietly, "you don't think it's Dark magic, do you?"

Albus had to admit that the thought had crossed his mind.

"There is no indication that it is." He said. "Of course, I did what I could to delve the area. There was no hint of Dark magic. Hopefully, wherever the boy is, he has merely learned magic that we are unfamiliar with here."

Albus had of course never shared his suspicion that the boy had been possessed on the day he had disappeared. There was no reason to alarm the public, and there was no telling what the media would make of it.

"Well there's no need to tell anyone about that, then."

"No," said Albus, "I should think not. And perhaps it would be best not to mention the Dursleys. Perhaps simply that he was spotted in the Surrey area, and seemed to be in good health."

"Yes," nodded the minister. "The public wants to be reassured. There's no need to alarm them further. Why who knows, we may just have the boy back by election time."

Albus smiled reassuringly at the man. The fool. Every lead that they had was simply another question, with no indication where the boy was, or when he might be seen again. It was clear that Harry had no intention of returning to his relatives again.

"Indeed, minister. There is no need to worry unduly." Time would tell. In the meantime, he had a number of questions to run down.

!!!!!

"A massive dose of nerve gas gets dumped, and there weren't any casualties?"

"Well, sir, that's what they're telling us," Sam told Colonel O'Neill.

"And they've never lied," was the sarcastic reply.

"Are we going to tell them about Black?" asked Daniel.

"About the magic man looking for the magic boy?" asked the General. "The Pentagon is keeping quiet on that."

"That hasn't exactly worked in the past, sir," said Jack.

"Those leaks have been eliminated," replied the General.

None of them had been at all surprised when, two days after the mystery man had shown up on Tollana, the Russian government had informed them of the incursion into their own Stargate command center. Not much was known about what had happened. Apparently everyone involved had come down with an acute case of amnesia. Logs showed that someone had gone into the complex from an auxiliary exit, though surveillance tapes showed nothing. Someone had activated the Stargate, in spite of the covering that prevented the wormhole from forming still being present. At some point someone in the base had triggered the failsafe mechanism, releasing a deadly nerve gas. After that, all of the bases personnel had woken up outside with no memory of what had happened. That they had contacted the Pentagon was proof enough of how upset the Russian government was over the incident.

"What exactly are we going to do about Black?" asked Colonel O'Neill. Reminding Sam that the Colonel was still disgruntled about being drugged in his own home.

"Both Harry Potter and the Tollan government are willing to let the man stay," replied the General. "We have no way of forcing the issue, especially when the war with Anubis takes precedence."

Sam couldn't say that she was entirely displeased with the response. The man had saved her life after all, and she didn't know that she wanted the man to be locked up somewhere in Area 51.

Sensing that the subject had come to a close, Sam cleared her throat.

"Sir," she said, "as long as we're all here, I have some news of my own."

"Go ahead," said the General.

"Doctor Michaels from the Antarctic research site has discovered a perfectly preserved human specimen. Analysis of the ice from where it was found, indicates that it could very well predate the goa'uld occupation on Earth."

"In which case," said Daniel, "what's she doing near the Antarctic gate."

"Exactly," said Sam. "Sir," she said, addressing the General, "the habitable season down there is coming to an end soon."

"Let me guess," he said. "You want to go yourself."

"Yes sir."

"I have to admit, I'm interested myself. SG-1, you have a go for a trip to the Antarctic research base."

"Thank you sir," said Sam.

"And me?" asked Daniel.

"I'm sorry Doctor Jackson, but you still haven't been cleared for duty."

Daniel adjusted his glasses and held up a finger. "I haven't been cleared for off-world duty," he specified. "But I don't think Antarctica quite counts."

"Oh, it's close enough," said Jack, obviously recalling his own stay there.

"The Colonel is correct," said the General. "I'm not letting anyone go who isn't one-hundred percent. Doctor Frasier tells me that she won't clear you for at least another month."

Daniel sighed in defeat, and Sam did feel bad for him. Of all of them, this would be of the most interest to him. He was quick to rebound though.

"In that case," he said, "maybe it's time to let Jonas go for a trip."

"You do realize that it's his fault you can't go," said Jack.

"No," said Daniel, "it isn't. And I seem to recall you saying the same thing right to the man. Besides, it was only a week ago that he helped save this planet."

Jack didn't have an immediate response to that.

"Colonel?" queried the General, leaving the decision to him.

Jack looked skyward before replying. "Fine, he can come."

Daniel smiled triumphantly.

!!!!!

Harry groaned as he woke up shivering. It was perfectly temperate in his apartment. He got up chasing away the ill feeling remaining from his nightmare, rubbing at his aching scar. He stood there for a moment, with his face in his hands, unsure whether he wanted to actually do anything other than fall back into bed. With a shake of his head he stalked into his bathroom. In his experience, a hot shower could do wonders.

He nearly fell asleep once again while he was showering, but he was relatively awake by the time he left the bathroom in search of breakfast. He lost himself in his thoughts as he ate some cereal. He knew that his dreams were related to his possession by Anubis somehow, but he didn't think that the possession had done anything more than trigger them. He didn't have any proof of it, but felt certain that the dreams were coming from himself.

A chime toned to announce someone at the door while he was just finishing his meal. Harry addressed the apartments computer system to find out who was there. A video feed of Sirius standing outside his door showed up on the panel across the room from him. Harry got up to get the door, when he realized that he was still wearing a towel. Deciding that he didn't really care anyway, he opened the door for Sirius.

"Hey there kiddo," the man greeted him. "Oh, not quite decent yet are we?"

Harry shrugged. "What brings you here?" he asked, heading to his room to get dressed.

"You wanted to spend some time today trying to work out transfiguration, remember?"

Harry stopped and turned around. The memory came back to him. "Oh yeah," he said.

"Are you alright, Harry?" the man asked, concerned. Sirius was always on the lookout for anything that might be dangerous for Harry. He still hadn't come to terms with Harry fighting in a war; it had been hard enough for him to accept that Harry would be living alone. Of course, he wasn't the first adult to feel that way about Harry, but the man seemed to take it harder than most. Considering that it was all that the man had been able to hold onto from his previous life, Harry was able to understand.

"It's nothing," he said. "I just haven't been sleeping well. There's been these nightmares recently."

"What sort?" the man asked.

"I don't know," said Harry. "There's laughing and screaming. Then there's a bright green flash of light that ends it."

"A green light," Sirius said suspiciously, thinking hard. "Were there any words you could hear?"

"I think so. I'm not sure I could repeat them."

"Avada Kedavra," Sirius stated.

Harry looked up in surprise. "That does sound right. What does it mean?"

"It's one of the Unforgivables: The Killing Curse."

"The Killing Curse," Harry repeated. Thinking hard himself now. "You don't think… my parents?"

The man shrugged and shook his head at the same time. "I don't know," he said.

Harry nodded. "It's weird," he said. "My scar hurts when I have the dreams, and it aches afterward."

"Which scar," asked Sirius, "the one on your head?"

"That's the only scar I have," said Harry. "All the rest were either healed by my abilities or Tollan medicine."

Sirius's mind was obviously working overtime now, struggling to put pieces together that once would have come to him in an instant.

"It alone has resisted healing?" he asked.

Harry nodded. "I've had it all my life, or as long as I can remember. The Dursley's said that I got it the night my parents died. Though, they said that it had been in a car crash, and that was a lie."

"Well," said Sirius slowly, "if they were killed by the killing curse, but you were shielded… No. There's no way to survive the killing curse. Still, let me see it."

Harry stepped forward, and Sirius raised a hand to rub his thumb over the scar. Sirius nodded.

"That is a curse scar. I'm sure of it. Whatever it was, I'll wager it was dark enough to be the Killing Curse itself."

"Can I get rid of it?" Harry asked, more than a little unsettled by the conversation.

Sirius closed his eyes, thinking hard. He was shaking his head, though Harry wasn't sure if he was aware of it himself. Finally he said, "No."

"You're sure?" Harry asked.

Sirius opened his eyes. He did look sure of himself. "Something like that can't be removed while the person who made it is still alive."

A disturbing though struck Harry. "Does that mean that I'm connected to him somehow?"

Sirius's mouth opened, but he didn't say anything for a moment. Finally, he said, "I don't know."

"Okay," said Harry. This really was a poor start to a day. "I'm going to go get dressed," he said, turning back towards his bedroom. It was cold outside and he dressed appropriately. The two of them left the apartment a few minutes later.

"There's a nice meadow a little ways into the forest," he told Sirius.

The last time he had tried to learn magic from Sirius, he had wound up blowing up a couch, and had since decided that his apartment was not a suitable place for the lessons. Sirius refused to teach Harry in front of any Tollans, so seclusion was required.

"So how have you been," Harry asked Sirius. They really hadn't had time to spend together. Harry was always busy with the war effort.

Sirius shrugged. "You're not the only one with bad dreams," he said.

"Oh?" said Harry. "What about?"

Sirius shook his head. "To tell the truth, I can't say that they're really about anything. That's what's frustrating. I don't see anything; I don't hear anything. But I can feel: despair; fear. It's like I know that I'm never going to be happy ever again. I wake up, but I just can't shake the feeling. I've been keeping a dream journal, of course, but every morning there's nothing to really write about."

"A dream journal?" Harry queried.

"You don't keep a dream journal?" Sirius asked him with a hint of surprise.

"Should I," Harry asked.

Sirius sighed. "I don't know," he said. "I actually never thought about doing it. I just did it after my first nightmare. Maybe my instincts know something I don't."

"I'll try it," said Harry. "I think, whatever life you led before you found me, it must have been very awful to be having these dreams," he said. "I admit, I don't know much about psychology, but to be haunted like this by emotion, without the accompanying memories, I think it must have been awful indeed, and for a long time at that."

"That's what that Tollan healer I've been seeing said," said Sirius. "Though he used a lot of bigger words."

"Yeah," said Harry, "they do that."

There was a silence for a moment, and Sirius apparently decided to change the subject. "So you're still having trouble with Transfiguration."

It was more than trouble. Harry hadn't had any luck with the subject. He was pretty sure that it was because that particular branch of Magic made the least amount of sense. The whole thing seemed impossible, and seemed to break more laws of physics than Harry was comfortable with.

"Yeah," he said, "but you mentioned something earlier, the Unforgivables. What are they?"

"They're the three curses that will give any witch or wizard a life sentence when used."

"So what are they? Other than the Killing Curse."

Sirius looked at him earnestly. "You don't want to learn Dark Magic, Harry. It twists you. The Unforgivables are the worst, of course. The Imperious may seem useful, something that could even be used for good, but even it is tainted. And certainly, a few spells won't do any damage, but Dark magic is seductive, and it won't only be a few. Before you know it, you'll be half the man you used to be."

It was the first time the man had ever sounded so sure of what he was speaking about. Harry was still confused though. He could remember the feel of the curse on Sirius, but he still couldn't understand how magic, energy, could be good or evil. How it could affect his soul.

"I don't really understand," said Harry.

Sirius sighed. "I guess I'm not doing a very good job of explaining. Magic is a powerful, and wonderful tool, but it makes us more vulnerable to some things than muggles. I suppose it is not the soul that Dark magic effects, but the mind. It is the same though, as the mind holds sway over the soul." He paused to consider his words, obviously still unsure of how to explain this. "You can use your plasma," the word was said oddly, unfamiliar on the man's lips, "to kill a man, or you can use it to destroy a barrier in your way, or any number of other useful things. It may as well be akin to a muggle weapon. Still damaging, no one escapes violence unscathed, but the Killing curse is different. It is not about war, or self defense; it is murder. That is what you must have in your heart to use it; the same with any other kind of dark magic. They use ill intent, and the magic forces patterns in the mind more strongly than actions do, or most other magic. That is how it twists your soul."

"So, what intent is there behind this imperious curse?" Harry asked.

"The imperious controls a person completely. They have no room for independent thought, and it is very hard to break through. The imperious isn't simply a desire to control someone. If it was, it could be used to stop suicidal people from killing themselves, or to turn opposition forces to your side in a battle. The curse requires a will to dominate, subjugate. It is about power. In many ways, it is akin to," he looked down to Harry, seemingly unsure whether to go on, "rape," he said finally. He definitely was not comfortable with that subject around Harry.

For his part, Harry understood most of what Sirius had been saying, though Sirius's view of magic was still at odds with his own.

"Is there light magic," he asked.

"Oh yes," said Sirius brightly. "Healing, the Patronus, some of the mind arts. They all work in much the same way, but with positive thought instead."

"So can the two cancel each other out?" he asked.

Sirius was shaking his head before Harry could finish the question. "They can't be negated. It would be more like creating a dichotomy within yourself; two impulses within yourself at war. Better, I suppose, than only practicing Dark magic, but better to simply leave it alone in the first place." He cleared his throat. "Enough on this subject. I'm sure it's a subject for older students."

Harry sighed internally. Even Sam was willing to speak on whatever subject Harry wanted to talk about. And he thought that she had the hardest time accepting that he wasn't quite a kid. No matter.

"So help me understand Transfiguration, and maybe I'll be able to get a handle on it."

Sirius smiled. Transfiguration seemed to be his favorite subject. "Harry, everything in this universe is connected. Of course, distance matters, but for the most part, everything has a notion of how everything else is supposed to be," he went on. Some of it tugged on understanding in Harry, but he was still lost. It sounded interesting though.

!!!!!

Harry had spent the afternoon in the council room, going over long-term plans, and putting the finishing touches on others. It was late at night by the time he was ready to go to bed. Of course, that was when they called him back in. Something was up.

He dressed again, this time in something suitable for a fight, just in case. He arrived in the council room to find all of the Tollan members, as well as Jacob. Apparently, they were still awaiting representatives from Earth and the Jaffa. He walked over to Anan, who didn't seem overly busy.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"The Tok'ra have information that Anubis is going to turn his full attention to Kong Bao Lie. He means to destroy his forces."

"I see," said Harry. That was troubling. With most goa'uld opposition having been crushed by Anubis, Kong Bao was the only thing keeping Anubis from putting his full attention on them.

Harry sank into one of the comfortable chairs around the conference table, and closed his eyes. He did not mean to go to sleep, but found himself being nudged awake by Elliot, who was sitting next to him. He smiled at the Tok'ra as the meeting came to order.

SG-1 was not present; he supposed they had been unable to come on short notice. Major Ferretti was there from SG-2, as well as another man that Harry recognized, but couldn't place.

"Now that we're all here," Narim said, "I will let Selmak share the information that has brought us all here."

Jacob stood up and cleared his throat. "Kong Bao Lie is gathering the majority of his forces in the Kaarin sector tomorrow. He's having a meeting with his Primes. One of our spies within Anubis's ranks has alerted us that Anubis is aware of this meeting, and is preparing an armada to destroy him once and for all."

"What kind of numbers are we talking about here?" asked Major Ferretti.

"**We have little information on Anubis's forces**," answered Selmak. "**However, we know that Kong Bao will have twenty-three ha'tak class vessels and thirty-six al'kesh. However, his fleet of death gliders is dwindling. He has lost the ability to manufacture more, for the time being.**"

"Does Anubis know how big Kong Bao's fleet is?" asked Harry. Anubis would never intentionally engage in a fair fight. If he knew Kong Bao's strength, he would go in with overwhelming force. If he was ignorant, then it could be hoped that he would underestimate the fleet.

"**We don't know,**" answered Selmak.

"Well then," said Harry, "we'll cross our fingers and hope for the best."

"The Prometheus might not be up to a fight on this scale yet," said Major Ferretti, "but I think we can spare a few F-302s. Anubis might have made his ships impervious to phase shifting drones, but a hyperspace window can still get through them."

"Your contribution will be appreciated," said Narim.

Harry knew that the Tollans were making their own fighters for just such a purpose, though were still in the design phase. Fighter craft went against Tollan military practice. Fighters were expendable; you expected to lose a few in every battle. The Tollan's didn't like treating their people like that. Part of the hold up on the designs was that they were still holding out hope to make them unmanned.

They went well into early morning, planning the strategy of the battle as best they could. Of course, they all knew that even the best-laid plans lasted only until the battle had begun.

!!!!!

Kong Bao Lie stood on the pel'tak of his flagship. He had not expected to last so long in his war against Anubis. His greatest hope then had been to die honorably avenging the death of his master. He had never thought that he would last so long, or that he would have been able to cause so much trouble for Anubis. Part of it, he knew, was because of the alliance opposing Anubis. They thought that they had been clever in helping him. Information reaching him at just the right time, or traps for his forces destroyed before he could fall in. The only reason he hadn't allied himself with them was because they had all at one time considered Lord Yu an enemy.

Today would be a major victory for him. With luck, he would even destroy Anubis' flagship, though he had heard that Anubis was not so easy to kill himself. Perhaps he truly was a demon. The Tok'ra spies in his ranks knew nothing of his plans, of course. This was no meeting with his Primes. Nor were the ships around him his fleet. Every one of them was good for nothing but scrap, but they all had hyperdrive engines, and they were equipped with weapon's grade Naquedah. The explosions would be spectacular. Not all of the Jaffa aboard would manage to ring off, he knew. He would regret that those few Jaffa would die in such a manner, but they had all volunteered in honor and memory of their lord.

It would be a great victory today; if it all went to plan.

!!!!!

Harry was enjoying the solitude of the Tar'Chell. There was no chance to catch some sleep, of course. Not when he felt tired enough to sleep through the alarm that would come before he dropped out of hyperspace.

Harry had to wonder how much of his exhaustion was from a bad nights sleep, and how much of it was that he was tired of fighting. He still wanted to destroy the goa'uld; Anubis most of all. But today would simply be one more battle, no matter how successful. It always would be until Anubis could be destroyed somehow. He wondered if the answer lay in magic. It was something to ask Sirius about, at least.

Their plan was relatively simple. Kong Bao Lie's forces would be an anvil to their hammer. Anubis would undoubtedly surround Kong Bao's fleet with his own. The Tollans would send in four of their war ships and a few cruisers in two groups coming from opposite sides. When Anubis's ships moved to accommodate them, the fleet of thirty-seven Jaffa ha'taks, six more cruisers, and the Tar'Chell would come to pin them all against Kong Bao. Earth's F-302s would make surgical strikes wherever they were needed, mostly to come to the aid of any ship that was in danger of being destroyed, rather than as a striking force themselves.

It was a good plan. Many of Anubis's ships would undoubtedly escape into hyperspace, but they shouldn't need very much luck to destroy a sizeable portion of Anubis's armada. If Anubis was there in person, and they were very lucky, Anubis would find himself without a body again for a time.

!!!!!

Kong Bao's flagship was surrounded on all sides by his booby-trapped ships. He stood ready, as did his Jaffa. The attack would come at any moment.

"Sir," said Bei Jia, his officer at the scanner, "many ships have dropped out of hyperspace. It is Anubis."

"Give the command," he told Pan Kun.

"Yes, sir."

Immediately the ships began moving out, every one of them with at least partially operational sublight engines. Perhaps Anubis was wondering why his ships weren't being fired upon, but Anubis's ships merely began to take position around them, only a few opening fire.

The first of his ships to be destroyed was taken out by weapons fire, resulting in a smaller explosion, but only moments later, one of his ships reached its target, just abreast of one of Anubis's ha'taks. The explosion was as brilliant as he had hoped, and the target was destroyed.

"Two other ha'taks were damaged in the explosion, sir," said Bei Jia. More ships were detonating now, though not all managed to reach a target. It was going very well.

He glanced at the sensor display.

"Is that all that Anubis brought to fight us?" he asked. Had word not reached Anubis as to the size of the fleet?

"He may have thought to rely on the strength of his shields," said Pan Kun.

"All ships have detonated, my lord. All of Anubis's remaining ships are damaged to an extent," said Bei Jia.

Kong Bao spared a thought to how many had managed to ring aboard his own ship. "Send the signal," he said, "and open fire."

His real fleet he had kept in reserve, not far away. They arrived in moments. The enemy ships that could took the opportunity to flee into hyperspace. Even though their shields were not as strong as Anubis's, the battle was decidedly in their favor.

"My lord," Bei Jia cried. Kong Bao had refused the title, but they still often called him by it. "More ships are arriving. They belong to Anubis."

So he was not the only one who could keep his fleet in reserve.

"How many," he asked.

"Thirty-two ha'tak vessels, and many more al'kesh."

"Have us take a defensive position," he told Pan Kun, who began relaying the order to the fleet, "we will not run away so quickly. Launch the death gliders." They were fighting a devil after all. He would not dishonor himself by not giving everything he could to destroy Anubis.

"Sir, I have four more contacts," said Bei Jia. "My lord, they are Tollan."

!!!!!

Looking at his sensor readings when he came out of hyperspace, Harry had to wonder if the battle had started much sooner than they had expected. There was so much wreckage from destroyed ships. No matter. Anubis's ships had grouped up much as they had been expected to, and Harry was right on target. He charged all of his weapons.

It was chaos of course. Oh, the ha'taks never moved much, but there were hundreds of death gliders swarming around various ships, and dozen's of al'kesh making bombing runs. Harry was all too happy to join the fray. His ship rushed towards the front between one of the Tollan war ships, and a group of ha'taks, firing in earnest. The Tar'Chell shook as his own shields began to take a strain, but the Ha'taks he was firing upon held little hope against both the Tar'Chell and the superior Tollan warship, using both its drones and energy weapons.

Around him, the battle raged on. Tollan cruisers would fly right in amongst a number of enemy ha'tak, relying on their triply redundant shields (an engineering feat that Harry still had a hard time wrapping his mind around). While their weapons were not overly powerful, they still managed to draw fire, allowing allied ha'taks to get into superior positions.

Harry's own scanners were having a hard time keeping track of everything that was happening, and keeping track of enemy and friend was taxing. Friendly fire was unavoidable in this kind of a battle. Harry soon found himself swarmed by death gliders he hadn't noticed coming. His ship shook harder, as it came under their concentrated attack. There were too many of them for Harry's own weapons to take care of effectively. Soon though, drones from the warship began picking them off rapidly. Harry gave a mental thanks to the captain of the warship, and moved the Tar'Chell to intercept the ship that had likely sent the death gliders.

!!!!!

Barring a miracle, he was going to die. His ship had taken too much damage, and his hyperdrive was beyond repair. An old proverb came to him: when the tree falls, the monkeys scatter. He wouldn't leave his Jaffa brothers without direction.

"Order an evacuation, and connect me to our fleet," he told Pan Kun. Of course, neither Pan Kun nor Bei Jia would leave him, even if he ordered them to. He raised his voice when the connection was made. "My brothers, my time is at hand. But the Demon must be destroyed. If not today, then he will still not be able to escape justice. Our brothers in rebellion have shown themselves worthy. Join them, and remember: all goa'uld are our enemy now."

He motioned for Pan Kun to end the connection.

"My lord," said Bei Jia, "it has been an honor."

"The honor has been mine," said Kong Bao. "Set the hyperdrive to overload, and set course for the nearest enemy ha'tak." His ship kept firing to the last. He didn't know if there was an afterlife, but if there was, he intended to bring as many of his enemies with him as he could.

!!!!!

It was the chatter that told him before his sensors, which had been working overtime.

"They're running," that was from one of the F-302s.

"The death gliders aren't being picked up. Unless they surrender, we'll have to pick them off one at a time."

Harry thought that even the Jaffa would find that a grim duty. Still they were victorious. Though Anubis couldn't have lost more than half of his armada. The tide of the battle had obviously turned against him.

The order also went out to cease fire on ships that were too crippled to either flee or fire back. If possible, they would be taken by force, with Harry going in as he had before to lower shields and activate ring platforms. That was when they were hailed by one of Kong Bao's ships.

!!!!!

On Earth, Sam and the rest of SG-1 present at Antarctica were oblivious to the large battle that had taken place. Sam thought that the research station must have gotten colder since she had taken sick. Though at other times it seemed a lot warmer. It was just their luck to catch an Ancient virus.

!!!!!

As Sam was languishing on a cot in Antarctica, Thor arrived above Earth in the Carter. He didn't think he would tell them the ship's name this time. It seemed to make them excited the last time the Asgard had named a ship after one of them. Humans were much too excitable. No matter. Major Carter had helped to save his people two years ago; the honor was due.

Protecting the humans from the goa'uld had begun as a favor to the memory of their lost friends so long ago. But it had truly worked out well. The humans were advancing, faster at times than was expected. They truly would one day be the fifth race.

At least, they would if they survived this war with Anubis. That was why he was there. Thanks to the code recovered from the android Reese, the Replicators had successfully been neutralized in his home galaxy, and would soon be eliminated. It was time at last to begin war with the goa'uld in earnest. Thor had to wonder if his people would ever know peace before their end came.

!!!!!

On Earth, in London to be precise, Albus Dumbledore knew nothing of battles in space, or that the subject of most of his worries was in one. At the moment, Albus was regretting that he so seldom had a chance to wander through the shops of Diagon Alley. He especially enjoyed going into Florean Fortescue's for ice cream, though he reminded himself that he didn't have time for it at the moment. As he walked into the Leaky Cauldron, he wondered why he hadn't scheduled this meeting at the ice cream shop in the first place. No matter.

Remus Lupin was sitting at a corner booth, waiting for him. The man had been tracking down leads in Egypt for a month now, though Albus was afraid that the man would have no respite. He still needed someone to go to the Colonies to find out who in their muggle military had requested the police report on the Potters. He sat down with the man.

"Remus, I trust your voyage home was uneventful."

"It was, Professor, thank you," the man replied.

"Was your research in the Cairo museum successful?"

"I never got in," said Remus.

"They discovered your lycanthropy?" asked Albus.

Remus shook his head. "They discovered that I was British. We haven't exactly been popular over there since we sent over a dozen Aurors into their country without warning."

"Yes," said Albus, "I can see why they might still be upset."

"Still," said Remus, "it wasn't a complete loss. A friend of mine in the area managed to get me copies of the texts I was looking for. He even helped me translate them."

"What did you find?"

"This," said Remus, pushing forward a drawing. Albus recognized it from his pensive viewing. "It's said that the sun god Ra had different forms, and this was one of them."

It didn't seem to quite be a snake. It was definitely more sinister.

Please Review


	12. 12 Precipice

Disclaimer: Don't own Harry Potter, nor the Stargate franchise, nor am I affiliated.

Precipice

While not a coffee man himself anymore, General George Hammond still needed a kick to get going in the mornings. For this purpose, he kept a cupboard shelf stocked with a range of highly caffeinated teas. It was all his wife's fault of course; she had forced the issue many years ago when George was drinking seven cups of coffee a day.

He checked his watch while his earl grey steeped. Barring a global disaster, he would be spending the day with his granddaughters. It was much too early now though; his daughter Lucy had recommended that he arrive after Saturday morning cartoons. That was when the doorbell rang though, and while not a superstitious man himself, he considered crossing his fingers while going to see who it was.

A slightly shabby mustached man stood on the other side, looking slightly apologetic. Wearing an odd ensemble capped with a tweed jacket, the man gave the distinct impression that he didn't quite fit in Colorado Springs.

"Can I help you?" he asked the man.

"I hope so," the man said in a British accent. "My name is Remus Lupin, and I am terribly sorry to be bothering you so early on a Saturday. It took me a rather long time to find you, and my…flight…is leaving soon."

"You've been looking for me?" asked the General, not liking where this was going.

"You are General Hammond, stationed out of the Cheyenne mountain complex?"

"That's right," he said. That much was not classified.

"Yes, well, getting to the point, over a year ago your Pentagon put in a request for all information concerning one Harry James Potter. This included a police report concerning the murder of his parents. Well, I've finally tracked that request back to your office."

Warning bells went off in his head at the mention of the boy's name. He hoped that this was not another security breach. "How exactly did you trace that request?" he asked. Of course, it was not classified information, but the man should have been wrapped up in red tape for quite a long time, and George would have heard about it.

"Oh well," Lupin said, "I do have a few connections."

"And what is your interest in this matter? You never mentioned who you are affiliated with." Nor what he was doing at his front door, instead of scheduling a meeting through the Air Force. For that matter, how had the man found his house?

"Well, you see, I was a friend of his parents. I'm not strictly affiliated with any agency though. I don't know if you are aware, but Harry briefly visited his relatives in Surrey, and mentioned having seen the report concerning his parents, before disappearing once again. According to public records, your office has put in the only request for that particular file, which means that someone in your office showed it to Harry. However, there has been no official mention of any other contact with him."

To Hell with Saturday morning cartoons. Next time he would be leaving at sunrise. George didn't know if he could get away with a 'no comment' in this situation. He settled on stalling the man. "Before I say anything, I would like to see some identification."

Lupin raised his eyebrows. "I told you that I'm not affiliated with any agency."

"I will still need to verify your identity, in order for our own records to be accurate."

The man pulled a passport out from his jacket pocket. If it wasn't a very good forgery, then the man was definitely Remus Lupin.

"My office received no word from England that the boy was spotted." Strictly true, they had heard from Major Carter.

Lupin smiled. "Perhaps there has been a failure to communicate on both sides."

Time to lie, then. "Well, Mr. Lupin, I can assure you that while we have captured both suspects, Harry Potter has yet to be spotted by any military official." The story given concerning the two archeologists was that they had been manipulated by a still unknown third party, which had taken loved ones hostage. It had been a very hard cover story to set up (the Russian submarine that they had destroyed had been easier), but no one had challenged it yet. The truth of the matter was, this Lupin fellow seemed to be the only person in the United Kingdom actively looking for the boy.

"I see," said Lupin. "In that case, I will bid you good day." He held out his hand, and George took it reluctantly. "You are sure though," Lupin did not release his hand, "no one in your office…"

"No one," George said firmly. The man let go.

"Well then," Lupin said. "I go home empty handed. I had so hoped that I had found a lead."

"Good luck in your search," George said affably.

Lupin smiled at him and walked away. George closed and bolted the door before going strait to his phone. This Lupin fellow wouldn't be leaving the country so quickly if he had anything to say about it. It looked like he would be going into the office after all.

!!!!!

Remus smiled as he walked down the General's driveway, looking at his hand. He had never heard of the Man's Imprint potion before Albus had given it to him, but it had done what it was promised to. Severus truly was a spectacular potions master.

Written on his hand in purple ink was a jumble of words, most of it useless, but chief among them, in the center of his palm, the words 'Samantha Carter' stood out in large letters.

!!!!!

"For the last time Harry, you need to let the universe around you guide the process."

"Sirius," said Harry from his seated position in the forest clearing, "I'm very familiar with the universe, and it's not saying anything to me. Not how to change this splinter into a needle, not how to make chocolate chip cookies, nor how to make you shut up when I'm trying to concentrate." The notion was still ridiculous, no matter how many times he had seen Sirius do just that.

"The incantation is Scilencio, with a quick jab of the wand. You know, I must have been terrible to my teachers," said Sirius, his face in his hands. "This is obviously some manner of Karmic comeuppance."

"Hey," said Harry, feeling a little insulted, "I'm not completely unteachable. We've been doing okay with charms." Indeed, charms were quite fun.

"The funny thing is," Sirius muttered, more to himself, "it might just be easier to teach you to be an animagus."

"What's that?" Harry asked loudly, pulling Sirius's attention back to himself.

"Hm? Animagus, it's a person who can turn himself into a specific animal."

"You've already turned me into a squirrel," Harry said. It had been a distinctly unpleasant experience, but it had been Harry's own fault to state that such a feat would be impossible.

"No, no, that's completely different. I mean you didn't like it a bit, did you? Your mind knew that you weren't supposed to be a squirrel. I doubt I could have made the transformation last for more than a few minutes. The animagus transformation is completely different. It's wandless for one, a completely internal process. What's more, your body turns into the animal that your soul is the most in tune with. You can hold the transformation indefinitely. I bet I could teach it to you, actually." He was talking to himself again. "That could work, and if he can transform himself, he might just get the feel for external transformation."

"You think you could teach it to me?" Harry drew back the man's attention.

Sirius nodded. "Definitely."

"So, are you an animagus?"

Sirius's eyes widened in surprise. "I don't know," he said slowly. "But then, I do know a lot about it?" He started nodding to himself.

"So…?"

"Hold on a minute, I'll need to meditate." Sirius was already seating himself on the ground.

Harry rolled his eyes. Sirius had begun teaching him meditation, and in his experience it seldom took only a minute. Still, he was interested in whatever Sirius would discover. He lay back, looking up at the clear blue sky of the third planet to bear the name 'Tollana.' He summoned a few rocks to himself and used his magic to juggle them above his head, making different patterns. He lost track of time before Sirius finally stood up again.

"I've got it," he said. "I think I know what I can turn into."

"Well let's see it then."

"Alright," said Sirius, concentrating hard. He started to change, black fur sprouting out as he fell to the ground. Within moments, Harry found himself staring at the largest dog he had ever seen.

"You're a dog!" Harry stated unnecessarily.

Sirius barked in agreement, seeming ecstatic. He proceeded to pounce on Harry, licking his face.

"Sirius, yuk," Harry laughed. "Stop that."

Sirius rolled off him and Harry pushed himself up. Sirius looked up at him with an expression that clearly said, 'play with me.' It was a while before they calmed down and Sirius transformed himself back into a man.

"That's awesome, Sirius," said Harry.

"Tell me about it."

"And you think you can teach me?"

"Definitely, but you're going to need to focus more on meditation."

"Well," said Harry, "as much as I'd like to get working on that, what I really wanted to talk to you about today was souls."

"What about them?" asked Sirius.

"Well, I've mentioned the goa'uld we're fighting, Anubis."

"Right."

"See, Anubis doesn't have a body. Not a host body, and not a symbiote body either. He seems to be a soul, existing as malevolent energy. He encases himself in a force field so that he can interact with the world."

Sirius stared at him. "That sounds like very dark magic, Harry."

"It feels like dark magic," said Harry. "He possessed me once, and the energy felt like the energy of the curse you were under."

"He possessed you," Sirius deadpanned.

"Yeah," said Harry. "Only for a couple minutes. Jerk had tried to hijack the Tar'Chell.

"Well then," said Sirius, "now I'm doubly looking forward to helping to kick his arse. There are ways, using magic, to contain a soul. It's very difficult to destroy them, without a body, but containing one is feasible." He stopped to think, something he had to do less and less as time went on and new connections were formed. "It would have to be a ritual, I'm certain. You'd need a runic circle, and a spell. Maybe a crystal too."

"What if we could put him into some sort of body first then, a transfigured one, or cloned one maybe."

"Oh, that's… I don't think you understand. We're pretty sure, not completely mind, that under normal circumstances, the soul is relatively eternal. No clue what happens when you die, but as best as we can tell, the soul does move on, and then it's nearly untouchable. But there are ways, terribly impractical ways, with a living body, to destroy a person's soul. I doubt we could pull it off, and it's very dark. Like I said, containing him is doable."

"Could you teach me that, then?" asked Harry.

"You?" asked Sirius. "This would be very dangerous, Harry. I can do this, just point me at the guy, and I'll…" He stopped, a sickened look passing over his face.

"What?" asked Harry.

"No, no, no," Sirius whispered. He pulled out a knife and pricked his finger, before whipping a few drops off onto the grass. Using his wand, he muttered a spell over it. A puff of red smoke rose up from the ground.

"Damn it," Sirius growled.

"What?" asked Harry.

"You have to be a virgin to do it."

That was actually more than Harry had wanted to know about his godfather. "That doesn't make any sense," said Harry. He had been saying it a lot recently. "What does sex have to do with magic?"

Sirius looked at him askance. "Loads, but that's a conversation for when you're older."

Harry rolled his eyes, but it didn't matter right then anyway. However little sense it made, Sirius was usually proven right about what he knew of magic, and if a virgin had to do it, then Harry was the only option.

"So teach me," he said.

"I don't want you doing this," said Sirius.

"Well tough," said Harry, "because we don't have any choice. Anubis is a threat to everyone in this galaxy, and I really doubt that he's just going to forget about me. Now we've blown his ship up, while he was in it, and that only slowed him down. Every day he gets more powerful, and there's no indication that we'll ever be able to neutralize him. I'll be fighting him either way. I'll have an easier time of it if you teach me."

Sirius sighed and scowled at him. "Alright then. Let's teach you about Runes, and I'll see if I can remember enough to get this job done."

"What exactly are runes?" Harry asked. "And if you say that little squiggly lines can control magic, I'm going to bang my head against something hard."

Sirius sighed, and muttered, "Definitely Karma."

!!!!!

Sam groaned as she rolled out of bed. Thor had given her a once over after he had healed Colonel O'Neil, but had declared that it would be best to let her body regain it's strength on it's own. Still, her only real regret was that he hadn't arrived soon enough to save Ayiana. Perhaps the only living ancient, and she had died saving them. It would have been better if they had never thawed her out of the ice in the first place.

Another knock came at her door, and she called out, "I'm coming!"

She made sure she was decent before opening the door. A mustached man in a tweed jacket greeted her.

"Hello," he said, "Samantha Carter?"

"I'm she," Sam replied.

"Excellent," the man said. "I apologize if I woke you, but I have a plane to catch, and it took me longer to find you than I had hoped. My name is Remus Lupin."

"I'm sorry," said Sam, wishing she were back in bed. "What is it that you want?"

"Yes, to the point. Recently, a missing boy named Harry Potter visited his former guardians briefly, and he mentioned that a Major Samantha Carter had shown him the report concerning his parent's murder." Oh shoot. "Now I've gone through all the records available to me, and I can't find any mention of such an encounter. I was hoping-"

A man's voice interrupted him. "Excuse me, sir."

Sam must have been more out of it than she had realized because suddenly there were two suits behind the man that she hadn't noticed coming up.

"Are you Remus Lupin?" asked the one who had spoken.

"Yes," said Lupin slowly.

"I am agent Fitzgerald and this is agent Smitts. We're with INS, and we have some concerns about your visa."

What the hell was going on here?

"Concerns," said a confused Lupin. "I don't understand what the problem could be."

"You'll have to come with us so that we can make sure that everything is in order."

"Gentlemen," said Lupin, "I'm leaving the country this afternoon. I'm sure that I can finish this one last bit of business before I leave."

"You'll have to come with us now sir. The _DoM _has some questions for you." Those three letters were definitely emphasized, though Sam couldn't tell why. Lupin visibly sighed.

The man's awkward questions aside, Sam had some herself. "Wait, I'm Major Samantha Carter, with the United States Air Force. I'd like to know what's going on."

"I'm sorry ma'am, but that's confidential. If you have any concerns you can call our office. Come along Mr. Lupin."

Lupin followed after them, but he called out to her. "Do you know where he is?" he asked.

"No," she called out after him. She sighed, vexed. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed the mountain. First Sirius Black, now this Lupin fellow. Who were these people who kept spilling out of the woodwork?

"Walter?"

"Major Carter, what can I do for you?"

"I need you to contact INS, and find out what they know about a Remus Lupin. They just took him into custody outside my door."

"I'll get on that, ma'am. When do you need the information by?"

"As soon as I can get to the base." She hung up. It was just her luck to be going in on her day off.

!!!!!

"Mr. Remus J. Lupin. Citizen of England, graduate of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Currently unemployed." That was Mr. Fitzgerald, reading from a piece of paper.

"That's right," said Remus, a little wary of the two wizards. He glanced around their small enclosure. "You lot use automobiles in your work, do you?"

Smitts sighed almost dramatically. "Muggles seldom use that term. This is a van." The word 'idiot' was obvious in it's omission.

Fitzgerald cleared his throat. "My partner has a point, Mr. Lupin. Are you quite qualified to be meeting with muggles? Of course, that's what's brought us here, isn't it? What exactly are you doing interrogating high ranking members of our military? Do you know how many red flags you've thrown up?"

"Hey, I'm not interrogating anyone," said Remus. Well, he had intended to surprise them into reacting to the information that they had likely thought hidden. Perhaps these 'red flags' were just the confirmation he had been looking for. "I'm just trying to find some information on Harry Potter. I was tasked with following up on a lead on him."

"Forgetting the fact that you are not affiliated with any law enforcing agency-"

"I was a friend of his parents," Remus interrupted.

"-Barring that fact, this search is still ridiculous. What would American muggles know about it? Yes," he said before Remus could interrupt, "we know they were a part of the investigation; a small part of it. But everyone knows that Black was behind it."

"He was in prison," said Remus.

"And the boy was taken somewhere that all the wards monitoring him suddenly went whack. Face it man, it's obvious this is personal for you, but you're barking up the wrong tree, and ruffling too many feathers while you're at it. You're set to leave the country at noon. That's only an hour away; I suggest you make good time to your departure point."

"Please," said Remus. "I'm certain that that woman knows something."

"That woman," said Smitts, "is a Major in the US Air Force. She's a patriot, and she doesn't need you to bother her during her down time. She doesn't know anything about the boy, past what her fellow officers found at his home. You would do well to leave her alone."

"Very well," said Remus. He was certain that it wasn't a tone of petulance that touched his voice. "My wand, if you please?"

Smitts raised his eyebrows in surprise before handing Remus's wand to him. Obviously he had intended to surprise Remus by presenting it to him before he could leave, but the man's fingers were not as light as he seemed to think.

"Good day to you both," said Remus as Agent Fitzgerald opened the oddly sliding door for him. Once he was past the strange anti-Apparation field that must have surrounded the vehicle, he disappeared in a pop. He would be going home empty handed, it seemed.

!!!!!

"Let me get this straight," said Narim, "we're going to defeat Anubis by painting these 'Runes' onto a handful of ships."

"Yes," said Harry awkwardly. "It needs to be sixteen ships, I figure Tel'taks are the best choice. No one really pays attention to them in a battle. Of course, we'll need back ups in case any are taken out. And the paint will have to be conductive."

"You can't be serious," Narim replied. They were alone in the man's office, as the sun was setting on the horizon.

"Narim, there's so much to magic that just doesn't make any sense at all," Harry started.

"We've accounted for those discrepancies," said Narim. "You pull zero point energy from the empty space around you, and you manipulate it, and the exotic particles produced. It's science."

"Of course it's science," said Harry. "But the man turned me into a squirrel. A squirrel! Just a few inches off the ground; fir, paws, and everything. I can't wrap my brain around how he does it, but I've accepted that he can, and I've learned to take some things on faith. I've already seen a small set of runes put to use. Sirius made a circular barrier that drew on the energy around it for a solid ten minutes. All he did was activate it."

Narim sighed. "Supposing that this could work. How would you implement such a plan?"

"Anubis still can't stop me from infiltrating his ships," said Harry. "We lure him into a battle, I board his ship, the runes are put into place, and I put his soul into a crystal of some sort. Sirius recommended quartz or ruby."

"Why you?" asked Narim. "If Sirius Black is as competent in this magic as you say, surely he would be a better choice."

Harry shook his head. "Apparently you have to be a virgin to perform this sort of magic," he said. "And yes, I know that that doesn't make any sense."

Narim looked at him for a moment. "I believe that many of us had always assumed… Isis and Osiris were married, and the goa'uld are known for indulging in physical pleasures."

Harry reddened. "I certainly know more about those sorts of things from their memories than any other ten year old, but goa'uld take their … cues … from their hosts. I was nine; neither of them were feeling… it."

"I see," said Narim. "Good then." He cleared his throat. "This plan still sounds crazy."

"Yes," said Harry, "well, if it doesn't work, we can always try blowing up his mothership."

"Now that makes sense," said Narim, "there's just one other problem though."

"Only one?"

"The Tok'ra spy among Anubis' ranks was recently found out and killed. We currently have no method of discovering his current whereabouts, or feeding him misinformation. It may be some time before we are able to set up such a trap."

Harry thought about the problem for a moment. "You get everyone together," he said. "Sirius can turn the conference room into a menagerie, if that's what it takes to convince everyone. I'll take care of the rest." He stood.

"You have a plan?" asked Narim.

"Make sure that they'll be ready in a week's time," said Harry. "I'll be back in a day or two."

"Where are you going?" asked Narim.

"To steal an al'kesh," Harry answered as he started for the door.

"You already have one," Narim called after him.

"Yeah," said Harry, "but I don't want to crash the Tar'Chell."

Harry left Narim's office in a hurry, quickly refining his plan. There were a few things he wanted to retrieve from his room first.

"Harry." Sam's voice pulled him out of his reverie.

"Hey, Sam," Harry said with a smile. "What are you doing here?" He asked. "I didn't think you had any meetings scheduled.

"Actually," she said, "I'm here to see you."

"Well then," said Harry. "Want to walk with me to my rooms? I'm in something of a hurry."

"Alright," she said, and they left the antechamber together.

"What did you want to see me about?" asked Harry. "Up for another trip to Hawaii?"

Sam smiled. "I wish. It's purely business today though."

"Aw," said Harry. "I suppose it's for the best though. I've got a mission to go on. You'll be hearing something about it later."

Sam gave him a worried look. "Take care of yourself, okay?"

"Yeah, I know," said Harry.

"Anyway," said Sam, "a couple of weeks ago, some new British man started looking for you in America."

"Really?" asked Harry. "Who was drugged this time?"

"No one was drugged. He just showed up at the General's and my houses asking questions about you. By the way, did you mention me to your relatives?"

"You?" asked Harry, thinking back to his brief visit back to Surrey. "No," he said.

"This man, Remus Lupin, said that you had mentioned to your relatives that I had shown you the report concerning your parents death."

Harry shook his head. "I mentioned the report," he said, "but not you. I'm sure of it."

"Now that is interesting," said Sam, as they left the building. "Because he showed up to my house only ten minutes after he left the General's house, and he never mentioned me to the General either."

"You're right, that is strange," said Harry. "Hold on." He took a hold of her arm and shot the both of them across the expanse to his own building.

"You are in a hurry," Sam commented. "Anyway," she said, "it gets weirder, because he wasn't at my house for two minutes before he was taken into custody by Men in Black."

"Men in black?" Harry said dubiously.

"Supposed federal agents," said Sam. "They claimed that they were with immigration, but we couldn't find anything on them, or on Lupin with the INS."

"So," said Harry, "more stick waving crazies?"

"That's what we're thinking."

"And you're wondering if I have any idea who this Remus fellow is?"

"I know it's a long shot," said Sam.

"Yeah," said Harry, "I've never heard of him."

Sam sighed. "I've got a picture of him from the General's security system," she said, pulling out a photograph. "I don't suppose you recognize him."

Harry looked at the picture and shook his head. "If you show that to Sirius, and if Sirius has a meaningful history with the man, he might be able to get some sort of feeling from looking at the picture."

"How much of a history are we talking about here?"

"He saved your life Sam, and he didn't feel a thing when he met you again. I'd say it would have to be pretty substantial."

"Right," said Sam. "Do you know where he is?"

"My guess," said Harry, "is that he's waiting behind my door waiting to prank me."

"Prank you?" asked Sam.

"Yeah," said Harry, coming up to his apartment door. "Just stand to the side." He took a position next to the door before opening it. Right away a flash of light shot out and impacted the wall harmlessly.

"What was that?" Harry called into the room.

"Gravity reversal jinx," Sirius called back.

"And why did I give you access to my quarters?" he asked, finally stepping in.

"Because," said Sirius, "you just can't say 'no' to lovable old me."

"I'll give you old," said Harry.

"Oy!"

"Sirius," Harry told Sam, "is of the belief that I need to 'loosen up'."

"Well," said Sam, "you are a little serious sometimes."

"That's the nicest thing anyone's ever said, Major. I think he takes after me too."

"He also has a font of serious Sirius jokes buried in his brain," said Harry, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. "I need to get a few things," said Harry, "then I'm leaving the planet."

"Want me to come with you?" asked Sirius.

"Absolutely not. I don't want to face an army of Jaffa with emerald green hair."

"You turned his hair green?" Sam asked as Harry fetched the Gatebuilder shield device from his bed room.

"Oh, it was wonderful," said Sirius, "he didn't realize it till he was down in that play area downstairs. The little buggers down there thought it was hilarious."

"As I recall," said Harry, now accessing his computer terminal, looking for information on a planet where Anubis was experimenting with geo-thermal energy, "they laughed even harder when I made you spin like a top until you reversed it."

"I bet you looked cute with green hair," said Sam. "I sure wish I could see that," she said leadingly.

Harry pointed a threatening finger at Sirius. "Don't even think about it."

He pulled a few data crystals from a drawer and stood up. "Right," he said, "I'm off. I'll probably see you tomorrow. And Sam, when Narim tells you my crazy plan, don't just dismiss it."

With those last words, Harry disappeared: a small flash of golden light, disappearing into a miniscule point of purple and black.

First things first, he thought to himself, he needed to steal an al'kesh. That wouldn't be too hard, not hard at all. He went to his computer and accessed his files of Tok'ra intelligence. He had a target in mind, a minor goa'uld named Oper that was still holding onto a few planets, for the simple reason that no one had bothered to take them from him yet. Well, maybe Harry could get the ball rolling.

One of the planets under Oper's control had a small shipyard. It was the best defended of the planets, but it was the most likely to have an al'kesh. His decision made, Harry set in a course for the planet and settled in for the four-hour journey. He pulled out the crystals he had taken from his room; they contained theorems from his classes on Tollana, and Harry began writing up a theorem of his own. He grinned to himself. There were some aspects to the fight against the goa'uld that he really liked.

Four hours later, he was still working on a theory of how one could use a black hole to establish a stable wormhole to anywhere in the galaxy, large enough for a ha'tak to pass through. Such a feat would be a major boon to any war effort. The Tar'Chell finally came out of hyperspace, facing the planet's small shipyard. Harry set aside his work, and opened fire on the planet's defenses, scanning for orbiting ships while he was at it. He smiled; he was alone in the skies, at least on this side of the planet.

Satisfied that he would not be shot down trying to leave the planet in a pirated ship, Harry set the Tar'Chell to jump into hyperspace before jumping down to the shipyard himself. There was pandemonium, as Jaffa ran around trying to get to ships in order to get to a fight that was already over. Harry shot himself at an al'kesh that still seemed to be empty, using the ship's ring platform to get aboard.

Harry shut down the platform before rushing into the control room. He was passing through the planet's atmosphere less than a minute later. The easy part was over, he had a lot more work to do before everything came together. Then things would get dangerous.

Six hours later, Harry had finished his theorem, rendezvoused with the Tar'Chell, taken an EVA, retrofitted the ship's shields, and done everything he could to make his new al'kesh look like it had suffered heavy damage in a space battle. The name 'Tar'Chell' emblazoned on its bow, and a small amount of naquadria placed near the hyperdrive reactor, made it seem to be his own. Harry sent the Tar'Chell to an uninhabited planet not far from Tollana and took its stand-in back into hyperspace.

A little over an hour later, he was well into Anubis' territory, and he dropped out not far from the target planet. A small explosion at the stern of the ship made it seem as though he had lost hyperspace capabilities. He kept the al'kesh hurtling towards the planet.

As soon as he had left hyperspace, two of the five ha'tak guarding the planet broke formation to confront him. Harry powered weapons, but another small explosion rocked the ship, and it appeared as though the weapons system had given out. The two ha'taks opened fire, but Harry didn't wait for the bolts of plasma to reach his ship, and he jumped down to the planet, behind the Stargate. His luck, which had seemed to be with him, failed at that moment though, as his escape route was already active.

"Drat," Harry muttered, and he shot himself towards the tree line behind the Stargate. If his luck was at least partially with him, then his presence hadn't been noticed. He shot himself a few more times, deeper into the forest, until he was certain he could avoid detection. He mentally checked the time through his hand device, and decided to wait five minutes. The Stargate likely wouldn't be active much longer than that.

Leaning against a tree, Harry fingered the crystal containing his theorem. For his and Sirius's plan to work, Anubis would have to be where they needed him to be, when they needed him there. The theorem would help to ensure that. He placed the theorem into a belt pouch, which was only just hanging onto his belt. Once again, it appeared as though it had been damaged in the battle.

Five minutes later, Harry shot himself back to the clearing containing the Stargate. It was deactivated, but more heavily guarded than he thought it usually would be. Undoubtedly, more Jaffa had been brought in for just this eventuality after his ship had been destroyed. No matter, he had his Gatebuilder shield, and he had his magic. Harry shot himself to the Jaffa's flank, and without anyone aware of him, he launched a few balls of plasma at their various positions, before shooting himself back into the forest. He rounded back to the far end of the clearing, and shot himself into a position behind the Stargate. His shield raised, Harry placed a hand against the Stargate. He pushed his mind into its systems and set it to dial the planet he had parked the Tar'Chell at.

When the Stargate activated, his distraction lost its effectiveness, and Harry came under fire. Between his shield and the fact that most of his body mass was behind the near invulnerable ring of the Stargate, he was safe enough. A few Jaffa tried to rush him, but magic flew from Harry's hands, the red energy that Sirius called a stunner. It seemed effective enough. Within seconds, a wormhole had engaged, and Harry rounded the Stargate to face the event horizon. He quickly flung himself through, but not before magically forcing the belt pouch to fall to the ground. Point three seconds later, Harry appeared on the uninhabited planet, the name of which had long been forgotten. Knowing that he would likely be followed, Harry jumped to the other side of the planet. The Tar'Chell would be a while in reaching him, but it would take Anubis's forces far longer.

!!!!!

"You gave Tollan science to Anubis?!"

Harry could see where Tellis could get upset over his plan, but still, "Defunct Tollan science," Harry corrected. "Science that took the Tollans fifteen years to disprove is going to make Anubis look twice. Let's face it; two wrong theories together don't make a right one. Should we fail to contain Anubis, he'll still be left with a science that will at worst be fruitless, and at best he'll destroy a few ships in the process."

"And how will this aid us in destroying him?" Narim asked. The three of them were alone in the man's office.

"There are only two known black holes in this galaxy that meet the criteria of the theorem. One is in Anubis's territory, and once he decrypts the file, he'll undoubtedly set up a research station there. The other one is in the middle of nowhere, and Anubis will assume that we have set up a research station of our own there. I assure you, he won't stand for that. He'll send in a few ha'taks to check it out, and we'll let him take the black hole from us. With us gone, Anubis will come himself to examine whatever research we will have 'left behind'."

"Which two theorems did you use exactly?" asked Narim.

"Gustoue's theory of using a black hole as a quantum computer, and Larise's theory of using Gamp energy to bypass the limit on Stargate size."

"Not everything in those theories is wrong," said Tellis, seemingly determined to find something wrong with Harry's plan.

"And I didn't include anything sensitive," said Harry. "The file's more of a how-to than a why. There's just enough theory in there to satisfy Anubis."

"You should have discussed the plan with the council," said Tellis.

"Why?" asked Harry. "So we could sit around talking about it for a few days while Anubis gets stronger? He's been systematically taking planets that long ago forgot the goa'uld, taking people that have been living in peace for the past thousand years or so. All the while we're safe pulling the strings of the galaxy."

"It isn't your job to personally see to the well being of everyone in this galaxy, there is a larger picture at stake."

Narim interrupted. "A larger picture that would be well served by this plan. If it works." He turned to Harry. "The council has agreed, reluctantly, to go ahead with this. Your godfather was quite persuasive, and it seems we are all a little desperate to defeat Anubis once and for all. There is a meeting scheduled, tonight, to iron out the details of this plan. How long will it take Anubis to decrypt this file?"

"I used the strongest encryption I felt would be appropriate for such information. I guess, two weeks at least."

"Then we'll plan for a week and a half," said Narim.

"Harry," said Tellis, "if this works, and I'm not convinced that it will, then I'll owe you a drink … in another ten years."

Harry rolled his eyes but smiled anyway. He was done relying on luck. In two weeks, he would have done everything he could to defeat Anubis. If he had to say so himself, everything he could was quite impressive.

!!!!!

Remus was frowning as he waited for his noon Portkey back to England. It seemed more than likely that they had a good lead here in America, but he had no idea how they would be able to follow up on it. Seemingly unwittingly, the Americans had put an end to the investigation. Remus didn't know how to get around that without starting an international incident. Unless Albus could think of something, then all that they could have to do was wait.


	13. 13 Life

Disclaimer: I don't own any of this. Do you know how you can tell? Look up at your URL.

Life

Albus had never liked Egypt in the summer, even in his youth. Now he was over a hundred and fifty; a cooling charm could only do so much when the sun could burn you through your clothes, and the sand could bake your feet. Poppy would be quite upset with him if he ever told her about this journey, as she was quite fond of reminding him that magical prowess did not give him leave to run around like an invincible teenager. She was fond of her lectures, their resident nurse.

Like most Egyptian tombs, this one had no grand stonework to mark it. If it had never been unearthed, Albus likely could have walked right over it without knowing that it was there. But it had been unearthed, and young Harry Potter had completely disappeared from within its walls. Albus walked into its shade.

"Remus," he called to the man. "I'm glad I was able to coax you back to the country."

"You know that I'll do whatever it takes," said Remus. "With both the Air Force and the EMM finally out of here, we have a chance to find another lead. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem as though there was ever any warding done here in the first place."

"Or that's what the EMM wants us to think," came another voice. Albus turned to face William Weasley. "They've become quite competitive with the Gringotts teams, and they've been more vicious since the ministry brought that squad of aurors into the country. They likely learned what they could from the wards, and then dispelled them."

"Greetings, William," Albus addressed his former student, and Head Boy. "Thank you again for helping us in our search."

"Ah, well, I don't want to think of the howler my mother would have sent if I turned you down and Harry Potter at the same time."

Albus smiled genially. Molly Weasley's temper had had a reputation even when she had been in school. "Is there anything else you can tell us?"

"Well sir, most of the writing in here is in an old dialect that we've never been able to translate, however there are a few inscriptions of a more common dialect. They seem to have been added at a later date." He cleared his throat. "'Here imprisoned', or entombed, 'are Osiris and Isis.'"

"Is there any significance in those names?" asked Albus.

William shrugged. "Osiris was the son of Geb and Nut, brother and husband of Isis; all of them gods. I can't think of anything of significance though. It's odd though, this seems to be a small temple, not a tomb. No mummies were ever recovered here, except for a couple of canopic jars. Another, older, inscription describes this as the departure point for their 'sky chariot'."

"Sky chariot," mused Albus. It was likely another dead-end, but Albus couldn't help but think of the way Harry had seemingly traveled from this tomb and out past the atmosphere. Still, if it was a clue, then Albus didn't know how to follow up on it. Somewhere out there, Harry was missing, whether he was healthy or ill, in high spirits or poor, or in good company or bad

!!!!!

"So," said Harry after he jumped down to the party that had come to greet him near the Stargate, "anybody miss me?"

"We can't get rid of you," said Jack. "Four days ago, you just had to put you seal of approval on the F-302s, and then the next day, you just had to make sure the Prometheus's hyperdrive was in peak condition."

"Well," said Harry, "that's what having an upcoming battle against Anubis will do to you."

A man to the side of Jack cleared his throat.

"Oh yes," said Jack. "Harry, this is Commander Tegar of Pangar. Commander, this is," he rolled his eyes, "Captain Harry Potter, of wherever he feels like."

"Quite right," said Harry. "Currently of Tollana."

Commander Tegar was obviously confused, but didn't give voice to his concerns. Harry thought that the look he directed at Jack said that he was used to such surprises from the man.

"Anyway, I've been briefed on this Tritonin substance. I have to say, it's quite remarkable. If perfected, it may just be able to end the Jaffa dependence on the goa'uld."

Still, much of what Harry was saying seemed to be going over Commander Tegar's head. He shook his head and said, "If you will come with me, I will lead you to the leader of our people."

"Oh," said Harry, "I suppose I could meet with him later, but I'm really just here as an envoy to Egeria, not to the Pangaran people."

"I beg your pardon?" said the Pangaran.

"Yeah, what?" said Jack.

"I'm here to speak to Egeria, Queen of the Tok'ra, who are allies of the Tollan people."

"Harry," said Jack, "she can't talk without a host."

"Of course she can," said Harry. "What sort of sentient species evolves without the ability to communicate? Just because you can't understand her, doesn't mean I can't."

"You can talk to symbiotes," said Jack dubiously.

"Oh yes," said Harry, "and snakes too, oddly enough. But that's neither here nor there. The Tollan government has decided that should Egeria be willing, they will do what they can to extend her life. With luck, she'll be able to spawn a new queen, and stay around to guide her people for a few years more at least."

"And the Pangarans?" asked Jack.

"She's the most likely cause of the genetic anomaly in her spawn," said Harry, "if she caused the flaw in Tritonin, she'll likely be able to fix it."

"And if you're wrong?" asked Jack.

"You know the Tollan philosophy on the matter," said Harry. The Tollans took a Star Trek approach to such things, unless extinction was eminent. They believed that every culture should be able to develop on it's own as much as possible. Harry knew that they planned to retire from public view once the war against Anubis was over.

"A philosophy they're apparently breaking for Egeria," said Jack.

"Egeria is the sole progenitor of the Tok'ra," said Harry. "Not only are they allies against Anubis, they will inevitably die out without her. If we're wrong Jack, and I truly hope we're not, then at least the Pangaran people will live on, though I'd do what I could to help. As it is, this is their only option to avoid extinction."

"Very well," said Tegar, "but we will need her assurances that there is a viable solution."

Harry felt like sighing, but instead he simply said, "As you wish." Of course, if the man refused to release her, they would be hard pressed to stop Harry from taking her. They all boarded an odd topless car, and another ten minutes saw them at the Tritonin production facility that housed Egeria. They finally reached a small laboratory.

"Hello Harry," Sam greeted him with a hug.

"Hey, Sam," Harry returned the greeting. "How do you guys keep getting mixed up in things like this?"

"Same way you do, I suppose."

Harry nodded in agreement, and turned to the two Tok'ra scientists. "Greetings Malek," he said in Goa'uld. "You do not need to look so dour. Your queen will soon be well."

Malek returned his greeting in Goa'uld. They had met before on Tollana. "_**I**_** will not be well until our queen has left this planet**." He turned to his companion. "**This is Kelmaa, one of our foremost biological scientists. Her host is Sarrianna**."

After a few more pleasantries, Harry was led into the room housing Egeria. Harry approached the tank and placed a hand on it. Looking directly at Egeria, Harry opened his mouth and hissed. Sirius had called the ability Parseltongue, and had seemed shocked when Harry had first discovered it, but it seemed to work on both snakes and symbiotes alike. How it worked was a mystery even to Sirius, but for now the important thing was that it did work.

"_Egeria, I come to you in peace and goodwill. I am here to represent a people known as the Tollans."_

There was a wait before Egeria answered weakly. _"Tollans, a free people, living in a feudal society."_

"_You slept for a very long time. They became a peaceful and powerful people, but they are now allied with the Tok'ra in the fight against the goa'uld."_

"_My children live?"_

"_They do,"_ said Harry,_ "they number only a couple hundred now, but they carry on as you taught them."_

"_How is it that you can speak with me?" _

Harry smiled. "_That is a story for another day. We must speak of more important matters now. I am here as a representative of Tollana, but it is the Nox who have made this offer. Should you be willing,"_ and there was no reason she shouldn't be, "_they will do what they can to heal you. They cannot promise you a long life, but you will be able to secure the future of your race."_

"_I have fond memories of the Nox," _said Egeria_. "I did not pass them on to my children though. How is it that you know of them?"_

"_The Nox have been friends to Tollana in times of need,"_ said Harry.

"_I am more than willing,"_ said Egeria, _"I am eager to leave this place, and join my children once more."_

"_There is one more matter," _said Harry, "_the people who have kept you here believed you to be a goa'uld. They regret your captivity now that they know the truth. A great many of them will die with you gone. Did you create the flaw in the symbiotes? And can you fix it?"_

"_I did, and I will," _said Egeria, _"let it be known that the Tok'ra are benevolent and forgiving. The people of this planet will live on in peace."_

"_Thank you," _said Harry. "_I must go now, and secure your transportation to Oreillia."_ Harry turned from the tank and faced the rest of the room. He was greeted with looks of mysticism on everyone's face. He rolled his eyes theatrically. "You guys really should just get used to me pulling new rabbits out of my hat."

Malek spoke up. "**The human body is not normally capable of making the sounds necessary to mimic a symbiotes speech, nor can human ears hear the full range of sound needed to understand it.**"

Harry shrugged and let a few sparks fly from his fingers for effect. "Anyway, she says she can fix your problem with the Tritonin. After she is cured herself, of course."

"But what guarantee have we-" Tegar started.

"None," Harry said. "You must rely on faith alone, that is your only option. Now the Stargate is the fastest way to transport her, as Tollana is on the other side of the Galaxy. However if necessary, I can transport her directly to my ship and take the long way."

Slowly, Tegar nodded. "I will have transport arranged to have her brought to the Great Ring."

"Excellent," said Harry. "Malek, Kelmaa, I'm sure you will wish to spread word of this to your people, and arrange a suitable host for your queen."

Malek frowned. "We will accompany our queen and see to her needs."

"The Tollans will see to her needs," said Harry. "They will be using healing technology more complex than what they have used so far in the war, and they do not wish for it to be observed by outsiders." That was a complete lie of course, the Nox always preferred to stay out of common scrutiny, and Harry sensed that Egeria did not want her past with them known. "You know that Egeria cannot be in better hands than the Tollans. She will be well within hours, and she will long for a host. You will be alerted as soon as she is ready."

Malek obviously didn't like it, but all he said was, "If that is what the Tollans require for this healing, then I will not argue. Our queen will be returned to us soon."

Harry nodded. "So she will. It is a new dawn for the Tok'ra."

!!!!!

Perhaps it was the geek in her, but the view of Mars really was quite special. She had been in orbit around a dozen planets, including Earth, but Sam always found herself staring out of the large windows of the commissary whenever she went in to eat, or get a cup of coffee.

The Prometheus had spent the last week in orbit around Mars as it was being prepared for the upcoming battle. Chief among the upgrades were Asgard shields.

"Hello, Samantha," came a voice from behind her.

"What happened to 'Major'," she asked, turning around to face Elliot.

"As of yesterday, I was honorably discharged from the Air Force. I'm still getting used to it."

"I guess the Pentagon finally decided that the Tok'ra needed you more than we do."

"**Indeed,**" said Lantash, "**and yet I return once more to make a delivery.** **Five modified Re'Tu detectors. Two for the landing bays, one for the ring room, for the bridge, and your main engineering compartment.**" The detectors were to prevent Anubis, or anyone else, from sneaking on board while invisible, much as Sirius Black had done. "**But I cannot stay long, every Tok'ra available is being called home.**"

"Really?" asked Sam. "What's happening?"

"**It was Egeria's decision**," said Lantash. "**She and Sarelle have plans for the Tok'ra, though I could not say what they are.**"

Sarelle, Egeria's host, was quite possibly the oldest human to be chosen as a host ever. Egeria had refused younger hosts, knowing that she did not have long, and so Sarelle had volunteered. She had been with the Tok'ra for most of her life, after the goa'uld had destroyed her people. She had had many jobs in that time, from simple servant to spy, when a Tok'ra could not go.

"**Before I begin with the installation,**" said Lantash, "**I must speak with Colonel Everet**."

"Right," said Sam. "I think he's in engineering, talking to Gersemi." Gersemi was the Asgard assigned to install the Asgard upgrades. Sam found that she liked working with Thor quite a bit more.

"**Then I will go there now**," said Lantash. "**Perhaps you will be able to help me install them**."

"I'd like that," said Sam. "It's too bad you're going though, it was nice having you around so much."

"I'll miss you too, Major," said Elliot, flashing a smile. "See you soon though."

He walked out and Sam turned her gaze back to the red planet while she fiddled with the sandwich on her plate. Her thoughts remained on Elliot though or, perhaps more likely, Lantash. Her solitude did not last long though.

"Fancy seeing you down here, Major," said Jack from behind her.

"Sir," she greeted him, turning to him as he moved around her table to sit across from her.

"How's the work coming?" he asked her.

"Oh, it's amazing," said Sam. "I mean Asgard technology is so far ahead of goa'uld technology, it'll be years before we'll be able to replicate the least of it."

"And yet I find you here," he commented.

"Well," said Sam, "a girl's got to eat."

"Juicy science and we don't have to force you to break for food?" A flick of his eyes towards the windows betrayed that he had already figured her out. He graced her with a small smile.

She changed the subject. "How about you sir?" she asked. "How are the drills coming?"

The rest of SG-1 was on the Prometheus to drill the crew in tactics to fight Jaffa in case the Prometheus was boarded during the battle.

"They're going okay. Really, the crew already knows this stuff."

"I think the drills are more for our benefit than theirs," said Sam. "We'll need to know this ship as well as they do before the battle."

SG-1 was tasked with boarding Anubis's mothership, and sabotaging its shields and weapons, just incase Harry's mission failed. Sirius Black would be transporting them over, somehow, a fact that Jack wasn't very happy about.

"Maybe," said Jack. He changed the subject again. "So I saw Lieutenant Elliot is here."

"Actually, he's not a Lieutenant any more," said Sam.

"So I've heard," said Jack. "Things still weird with you two?"

"Weird?" asked Sam, though she knew what he was talking about.

"Yeah," said Jack, "he's the new host of your dead symbiote's old lover."

"And yet you've managed to put it so succinctly," Sam deadpanned.

"Sounds like the plot of a soap opera," said Jack.

Sam laughed. "I'm surprised you don't have a Simpson's analogy for me."

"Oh, I do. It's just that whenever I use one, you give me that look that points out the difference between our IQs."

Sam raised her eyebrows. She had a look?

Jack cleared his throat. "Anyway," he said, "guy's not in the military anymore. That make it less complicated?"

Thinking about it, Sam realized that she had no idea. "Well," she said. "I better get back to engineering, or I'll never keep up with Gersemi."

!!!!!

"So, we're on a space station?"

"Yes, Sirius," said Harry.

"And it's orbiting that black hole we saw?"

"Yes."

"So how do we know it's not going to get sucked in?"

"Because," said Harry, "the Tollans are very clever."

"Right," said Sirius. "And the reason we're not floating around?"

Harry sighed. "The same reason we didn't float around on my ship. They have artificial gravity."

"Actually," said a voice that Harry recognized as Shen's, "the gravity here is real, redirected from the black hole."

Harry turned to face him. "You can do that?"

Shen shrugged. Sirius leaned down and whispered, "They _are_ very clever."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Shen, how are you."

"I am well, Harry. I hope I find you the same."

"I'm just going a little crazy," said Harry. "Nothing to worry about."

"I should hope so," said Shen. "With luck, we will all soon be able to relax."

Harry gave Sirius a sidelong glance. "We'll see," he said. "Sirius, this is Shen. He's one of the Tollan's top scientists. Shen, this is Sirius, my godfather."

After the pleasantries were taken care of, Shen showed them to another, larger landing bay.

"You'll find everything you will need in here, Sirius," he said. "Twenty-four Tel'taks, as you requested, and enough paint, per your specifications, to paint them all over twice. Are you certain that you will not need any painting utensils?"

"Quite," said Sirius.

"I'll leave you to it, Sirius," said Harry. "Shen and I have a lot to go over before we'll be ready."

"Okay," said Sirius. "I'll see you later."

Harry walked off with Shen.

"So, is it wise to use such advanced technology when you're just going to hand the station over to Anubis?"

Shen shrugged. "Would he not expect advanced technology? Besides, we'll have attacked him by the time he would get around to closely examining the system. Either way, the station will have been destroyed by the end of the battle."

"You've installed a secondary self-destruct?" asked Harry.

"In a way," said Shen. "It's not quite a destruction device. However, the same technology that gives this station gravity will also be able to drag this station into the black hole within minutes. Anubis would have no choice but to abandon it. Furthermore, the system makes the station quite immovable, should Anubis try to take it to his own territory."

"I see," said Harry. "Tell me about the false self-destruct."

"At first glance, the system is perfect. However, there is what appears to be an error, which a competent person should be able to get through."

"Are you certain that the error won't seem manufactured?" asked Harry.

"It shouldn't," said Shen, "since it is an actual error that nearly caused a disaster a few decades ago."

"Alright, I'll look at that later, I suppose, but what I'm really interested in is the fake database we're supposed to be luring Anubis here with."

"Of course," said Shen. "It's in the main research lab. The files were encrypted using the Gatebuilder's language, which we know Anubis is partial to. Doctor Jackson assisted us with the translations."

"I hope it won't be too easy to crack, we may need to keep Anubis here for a while."

"Oh, just wait until you see the algorithms we used to make it. I don't think he'll ever crack them. The beauty of it is, the data is non-transferable, so Anubis will have to work on it here."

"Right," said Harry. "It wouldn't do for him to just take a copy and go home."

"Indeed," said Shen.

Hours later, Harry was going over the fake files left behind for Anubis's benefit. While they didn't expect him to be able to get through the encryption, it would tip their hand if he did and there was nothing there. He had spent the day going over every pertinent system, looking for any conceivable flaw with the plan. As the foremost expert on the goa'uld, Harry was the most logical person for the job.

It was as he was looking over these files that the station got another visitor.

"**Harry Potter**," a woman's voice greeted him from behind. Even through the distortion from the symbiote, Harry could hear the age in the voice. He turned to face an elderly woman. "**It is a pleasure to meet you properly at last.**"

"Queen Egeria," he greeted her, "I am glad to see you restored."

She nodded. "**I believe you are familiar with the experience; freed from captivity, only to find that everything has changed.**"

"You get used to it," said Harry. "It just takes a little time. Of course, Sarelle has already lived through more recent events. I recall meeting her in passing after the attack on Revanna.

"I did not realize that you would remember me," the woman replied.

"Lantash once told me of the woman who spied on the court of Bastet for six weeks. It made you hard to forget."

The woman gave him a rogue grin. "Already a charmer, I see." Harry blushed. Egeria spoke up. "**Lya sends her regards, and an invitation.**"

"An invitation?" asked Harry.

"**Yes**," said Egeria. "**She would like to go on a walk with you; perhaps when this is finally over**."

"A walk," said Harry. "I might just take her up on that." The idea seemed quite appealing at the moment. Of course, so did Hawaii, as well as the paradise planet he had found. "So what brings you to this station?" Harry had heard that Egeria had been drawing all of her children in. He hadn't thought she would be making an appearance for a while.

"**Should your plan work, this place should prove to be the ultimate downfall of the goa'uld. As the Tok'ra have been fighting the goa'uld for two thousand years, I thought it only fitting that I visit this station.**"

"Then perhaps I can show you around," said Harry.

"**I would appreciate that,**" said Egeria.

!!!!!

When Anubis finally put a couple of ha'taks around the black hole in his territory, they knew that he had broken the encryption on the files that Harry had left for him to find. They knew that it would be only a short time until Anubis marshaled enough ships together to feel comfortable taking a Tollan target.

Sirius's cargo ships were cloaked and moved to a near by hollowed out asteroid, farther out from the black hole's gravitational pull. A Tollan battleship took a permanent position next to the station, and so did Harry in the Tar'Chell. Meanwhile, only a few light years away, a fleet of allies amassed.

Anubis's forces attacked less than twenty-four hours later. Four ha'taks, and a half-dozen al'kesh, showed up suddenly and immediately began firing on all three targets, while scores of death-gliders flew silently out of the motherships.

The Tollan ship and the Tar'Chell put up a seeming valiant fight, while it also seemed that Tollan scientists evacuated the station using Tollan transporters. Harry even went so far as to destroy one ha'tak, and a couple al'kesh (he lost count of the death gliders), before they were forced to retreat.

A few hours later, a cloaked cargo ship was able to report back to the fleet that the goa'uld who had taken the station had managed to deactivate the automated self-destruct. It's news delivered, it went back to its post, having to travel much of the journey at sub-light speed so as to avoid detection, in order to await Anubis's arrival.

!!!!!

Harry hated waiting. It was one thing he had never been very good at. They were all there: four Tollan battleships; the Prometheus, and a squadron of F-302s; twelve rebel ha'taks, three of which had been captured from Anubis; and a score of al'kesh. All in all, it was an impressive fleet. Harry hated waiting, but the distraction that finally came was not welcome.

Unexpectedly, a lone F-302 came out of hyperspace a couple of hundred kilometers away from the fleet. It's transponder, which turned on when the pilot determined it was safe, labeled it as Alpha 5, one of the F-302s stationed at the Alpha site. Harry's sensors showed a radio conversation between Alpha 5 and the Prometheus. A few minutes later, the Prometheus sent a broadcast.

"This is Colonel Everet. Seven hours ago, Anubis's forces did not just attack the Tollan space station; they simultaneously attacked the Alpha site. It has been completely destroyed. We don't yet know how many managed to gate away to a safe world, but we do know that, aside from the F-302 pilots, all those who didn't make it off the planet are dead. I will be taking the Prometheus away for precisely four hours in order to conduct a search and rescue operation for a missing F-302. Any assistance that can be rendered would be appreciated."

Harry considered it. Even if Anubis arrived in the next minute, and Harry doubted that he would, it was doubtful that he would leave again in so short a time. He opened a connection with the Prometheus.

"Colonel Everet, I am very sorry for the loss of your compatriots. Please allow me to lend my ship's sensors for your search."

"Thank you, Captain." The Colonel was another person who insisted on giving Harry a title, and had settled on the one given to him by the Tollans. "I'll send over Major carter to help coordinate our efforts."

"Got it," said Harry, "I'm ready for her now."

"We'll send her over in a minute," said Colonel Everet.

Their transmissions over, Harry was hailed by Commander Tellis's ship. The Commander greeted him.

"Harry," the man said. "We are currently forwarding the news, so that our allies will know that the Alpha site is no longer safe.

"I hope that while you are gone, you will remember that without you, all of our efforts here will have been for naught."

"I know, Commander," said Harry. "But this should be a simple rescue mission. I'll be back in no time."

"I hope so," said the Commander. "I wish you luck."

"Thank you," said Harry, and he ended the transmission as he heard the distant sound of the rings in the ring room. Sam came in a minute later, and Harry could tell that she had been disturbed by the news. He supposed she knew more than a few of the people at the Alpha site, and now she didn't know who was alive, or who was dead. Come to think of it, she wasn't the only one who knew people at the Alpha site.

"Hey," he said, and cleared his throat, as it had become somewhat tight. "So what's the plan?"

"Well," said Sam, handing him a small crystal, "everything we need should be on that. Major Casey already calculated a search area on his way here. Now when they abandoned the base, the F-302 pilots were supposed to rendezvous here," she pointed to a point on the map that had popped up when Harry had put in her crystal. "Alpha 3 never made it, but both Alpha 2 and 4 saw him enter hyperspace. Alpha 2 also saw him take a hit from a death glider, so we're assuming something's wrong with his hyperspace window generator."

"Which means," said Harry, "that he could either be somewhere between here and here…" He pointed to both the Alpha site and the rendezvous coordinates.

"Or anywhere in a one light year radius of the Alpha site, if his targeting system is malfunctioning."

"Of course, if his flight system is malfunctioning, he could have gone well passed that, and that's if his fighter didn't just break up when he entered hyperspace."

"Right," said Sam. "We'll stick with the initial 4.19 cubic light-years around the Alpha site, and hope Major Hayfield and Captain Shaw are somewhere in there." 'And alive' went unsaid. Harry wished she hadn't named them. "The 302s don't have subspace communications, so we'll have to keep to a schedule, so they can find us if they find something." She called up the flight plan.

"Right," said Harry. "How are their sensors?" he asked.

"Pretty lousy," said Sam, "which is why the Prometheus and the Tar'Chell will be covering the most ground.

"All right," said Harry. "I'll let Colonel Everet know that we're ready to start."

It took over an hour to get to the beginning of their search plan. It took nearly forty-five seconds to search each zone before they jumped to another. Five of the F-302s would rendezvous with them every ten jumps. Throughout the search, Harry and Sam sat in generally nervous silence, both of them preoccupied with thoughts of the two pilots they were looking for.

It was eventually Prometheus 1 that brought the good news. Alpha 3 had been found adrift. Both pilots were alive, but their radio was down. Harry relayed the information to the Prometheus before jumping to the damaged craft with his five fighters, to baby-sit it until the Prometheus could come and pick it up.

Harry didn't expect the Prometheus to be long in coming, but as long as they were just sitting there, he wanted to check on the two pilots. Angling the Tar'Chell down, Harry and Sam were able to look down at the two pilots. Harry waved at them, trying to get them to make some manner of gesture to indicate their well-being. They started waving their arms wildly.

"They look agitated," said Sam.

"Yeah," said Harry, as his sensors alerted him to the Prometheus's presence. Before he could move out of the way for it, one of the pilots began flashing the fighter's lights.

"That's Morse code," said Sam.

"What's he saying?" asked Harry.

"'Trap'," said Sam urgently.

"Alert the Prometheus," said Harry, raising the Tar'Chell's shields to their maximum strength and backing off from the damaged fighter. In that instant, six ha'taks dropped out of hyperspace, blocking them on all six planes.

"You shoot, I'll fly," Harry told Sam, as he moved the Tar'Chell to sandwich the damaged fighter between his ship and the Prometheus. It wasn't a very effective maneuver due to the distance between the two ships though.

Already, swarms of death gliders were issuing forth from the motherships, flying towards the Prometheus, while the motherships fired on the Tar'Chell, which had begun to shake violently. "They want to capture the Prometheus," Harry declared. Why take a damaged fighter, no matter it's tactical advantage, when you could take the carrier?

"Why are they moving like that?" asked Sam. The motherships were moving together around their targets in a seemingly random and predetermined pattern.

"In order to prevent the fighters from jumping past their shield's," Harry declared. "The Prometheus will never be able to pick up the fighter in this," he said, even as the ha'tak Sam had been focusing her fire on exploded violently. "We can't take much more of this. Tell the Colonel to get out of here as soon as I give the signal."

"What are you going to do?" she shouted over the noise.

Harry didn't answer; there wasn't time. Running to the nearest airlock, he raised his shield and ejected himself as soon as the door was closed. Using his magic to come to a stop, Harry pulled out his breather before shooting himself over to the fighter, which was using it's thrusters to try to get to the Prometheus, although the ship was swarmed by death gliders. Grabbing onto the side of the fighter, Harry banged on the window and motioned for them to eject. When they could only stare at him with stunned expressions on their faces, Harry cast a useful spell that Sirius had taught him: the unlocking charm. The cockpit roof shot up with a rush of rapidly expanding air, and as soon as he was able, Harry reached in and grabbed the two panicking and fortunately buckled pilots.

Harry wasted no time in jumping the three of them away from the battle. The two pilots were nearly unconscious now, and Harry pulled them close, into the confines of his shield, before orienting himself and jumping back to the Tar'Chell.

There was no moment of peace though.

"Harry!" called Sam, "our shields are failing; hyperdrive is down."

Harry cursed. Using his magic, he pulled Sam across the pel'tak to him and, still holding the two pilots, hooked a leg around one of hers before jumping all of them to the Prometheus. Letting the pilots collapse, Harry gave one final command to the Tar'Chell, making it fire first on the adrift F-302, and then the death gliders swarming the Prometheus.

Around him, the situation seemed as dire as it had on the Tar'Chell.

"Prometheus 6 is gone," called out a woman.

"Shield's are down to 5%," called a man across from her.

"I want us out of here," said Colonel Everet, nodding to Harry and Sam with the two pilots. "Get our birds out of here."

"Alpha 4 is away," said the woman, "Prometheus 1,3, and 8 are away.

"2 and 7?" asked the Colonel sharply. Harry winced at the omission of 4 and 5. Distantly, he felt the loss of his connection with the Tar'Chell, signaling it's destruction.

"Both have lost hyperspace," said the woman. "7 is DIS, 2 is trying to land."

"Dead in space," Sam supplied.

"I can try to get them," said Harry, as the woman reported that Prometheus 2 had landed.

"No time," said the man. "Shield's are going to collapse."

"Take us into hyperspace," ordered Colonel Everet. "Give them command thirteen."

The ship lurched as it entered hyperspace. Harry turned stricken to Sam as two medics rushed onto the bridge for the two pilots who already seemed to be recovering. "What's command thirteen?" he asked.

Sam swallowed. "Command thirteen is the order to self-destruct if capture is imminent. The F-302s have a tactical advantage that we can't allow Anubis to get his hands on."

Aghast, Harry started to protest that they shouldn't have just abandoned the pilots to their deaths, when logic caught up to him, and he painfully swallowed his words. He took a moment, closed his eyes, and said, "I need a place to rest. Jumping that many people is taxing."

"Major," said Colonel Everet tiredly, "take the Captain down to the guest room, please." To Harry, he said, "I'll let you know when we've rejoined the fleet."

"Thank you," Harry said quietly, who couldn't bring himself to care that for the first time, he was shipless. Putting one foot in front of the other, Harry woodenly followed Sam through the ship.

A/N: I'm terribly sorry for the long wait for the update. I've been swamped, starting both a new semester at school and a new job. That didn't stop my beta from heckling me about it though. I hope you enjoyed this chapter; as you can probably tell, the next chapter is the climax. I am planning a sequel though, so rest easy if you were looking forward to more.


	14. 14 Beginning

Beginning

Officers, who didn't have to share with visitors, had been given all of the good single rooms. This room didn't even have a window, and someone's dirty cloths were on the floor. It wasn't quite the military neatness he was used to seeing, but then, Harry didn't really care at the moment. He was content to stare morosely at the ceiling above him as he waited word of the upcoming battle. He had thought that he would sleep, but he had only managed twenty minutes before he was wakened by a nightmare. Those he could do without.

Harry didn't stir when the door opened. "I'll go if you want," he said, "but I'd rather not."

"Nightmare?" Sirius asked.

Harry looked up in surprise. He hadn't realized he was in the man's room. "How can you tell?" he asked tiredly.

"I've seen you after enough of them," Sirius said with a shrug. "And Samantha said she thought you could sleep for a week."

"That's doubtful," said Harry tiredly.

"You know," said Sirius, coming into the room fully, and closing the door behind him. "Everyone knows you did everything you could back there. You went _beyond_ any expectations."

"I know," said Harry, making a small effort to sit up and face Sirius.

"So what are you doing in here looking like a lost puppy, instead of going out there, punching walls, and promising revenge like all the other soldiers?"

"Because I'm not a soldier," said Harry. "And I don't want to be. When we're done here, I'm done. No more fighting just because. No more watching people die. I'm done."

"Harry," said Sirius, looking surprised. "That's fine. I mean, that's great! I know I can't speak for thirty-plus years of my life, but that sounds like the best thing I've ever heard."

"It doesn't sound great to me," said Harry, looking down.

"It will," said Sirius, "just wait and see. Look, you don't have to go through with this. Let them blow Anubis up again. We do it enough times and eventually he'll just go find some place to hide."

"He'll wait," said Harry. "He'll come back, he'll strike when it's least expected, and he'll be more terrible than he is now. No, this has to end today." He looked over to Sirius. "You know, I can't think of anything _you_ could have done that would make someone want to put you in prison."

"That's nice, Harry," said Sirius. "Colonel O'Neill might disagree with you, but it's nice." Harry snorted; the Colonel still held a grudge over his drugging. "Besides," said Sirius. "Maybe it wasn't prison, as such. It could have been a prisoner of war camp, or a deserted island. Maybe I was in a coma."

Neither of them believed that last to be a possibility. "What are your healers saying?" asked Harry.

Sirius sighed. "They think some sort of imprisonment would be most consistent with my symptoms. But I can't think of any civilized country that would have a prison that horrific."

"What about the wizarding world?" asked Harry, quite satisfied with himself for deflecting the conversation away from his own life.

"You know I don't know."

"I know," said Harry. "You forgot all the interesting information." Those few seconds where the curse had been able to attack Sirius's semantic memory had left Sirius bereft of those memories that had the greatest emotional valence attached, hence anything interesting. Of course, this in itself led credence to the prominent theory.

They stayed in silence for a few moments. Finally Sirius said, "We'll have lives after all this is over. Real lives. Probably not anything like what they should have been, but we'll make it work. You'll see, Harry."

"Yeah," said Harry, "I'd like that."

!

Apparently, Anubis was a very busy evil overlord; it took him a further three days to show up at the Tollan space station. The cloaked cargo ship that witnessed his mothership jumping near the station took a further four hours to travel at sublight speeds far enough away to avoid detection before jumping into hyperspace. The fleet had completely vacated the rendezvous point within twenty minutes, coordinating their departure times so that they could all arrive in the same instant.

Three minutes after the last Tollan ship had departed, the fleet dropped out around the space station. As they did, the hidden cargo ships began to leave their hollow asteroid, and Harry jumped immediately to Anubis's Mother ships. He arrived in what their intelligence reports had labeled as a storeroom near the pel'tak. It held materials important enough to be kept close at hand yet trivial enough to not require a door. Harry was able to sequester himself with a good view of the corridor. The transponder strapped to his ankle gave off his location to the cargo ships, which would have to center around him when he performed the ritual to contain Anubis.

As soon as Harry had left the Prometheus, Commander Tellis gave the command to release a wave of energy. Even Harry didn't know the science behind it, but the entire area became saturated with a kind of radiation that prevented hyperspace travel. The only way out was via sub-light travel. Anubis was trapped.

It had not been obvious at first, but as soon as the fleet had jumped in, the same mechanisms that kept the space station from falling into the black hole began working in reverse, actively pulling the station towards the singularity. As the station began picking up speed, a matter stream connected between it and Anubis's mother ship. Anubis had made it to safety. Still the station gained speed, and it became a streak of light racing to the accretion disk. Suddenly it burst apart, and came to a stand still. The devices that had protected it from the black hole's relativistic effects ceased working, and the miniscule pieces of what had once been a grand piece of technology seemed to hang frozen in time.

In the mean time, the war ships on either side had not remained idle. Hundreds of death gliders flew through space and al'kesh made bombing runs on larger ships while massive bolts of energy flew all around.

Aboard the Prometheus, things were a little more peaceful; it had to meet up with the rest of the fleet, having jumped farther away to accommodate Harry's needed two hundred miles. SG-1 stood at the side of the bridge with Sirius, waiting for the ship's computer to translate the relative positions of the Prometheus and Anubis's mothership into Apparition coordinates for Sirius, who could not make a trip to an unknown location accurately without them. Memorizing the coordinates, Sirius grabbed onto Colonel O'Neill's arm and apparated away. They appeared in a corridor not far from the main weapon's relay. Sirius checked to make sure they were alone before disapparating again. He would have to make the trip three more times, and that wasn't counting their exit plan. They'd be lucky if he didn't pass out.

!

Anubis ringed aboard his mothership with his personal guard, and his servants cowered before him.

"Report," he ordered.

"My Lord," said his first-prime, "our hyperdrive engines have been rendered useless, and we are out numbered. However, our weapons and shields are still superior to those of most of your enemies."

They began walking towards the pel'tak, which was relatively far from the ring room for security reasons.

"Launch the strike squadrons. Order them to take any ships using naquadria, and to destroy the rest."

"Yes, my Lord," said the Jaffa, who hurried away to see to his master's command.

On the exterior of Anubis's mothership, ten small doors opened, and from each, five figures launched into space. They were nearly invisible to the naked eye, their black armor camouflaging them in the dead of space. Passing stray bolts of plasma would light up their armored space suits briefly, before darkness claimed them once more.

Four of the groups sped silently towards each of the Tollan ships. Another group sped to the Tau'ri ship, and the remaining five sped towards the nearest attacking ha'taks, three of which had been captured from Anubis. Small energy thrusters in their hands allowed them to adjust their courses as their targets moved.

The first ship to be reached was a ha'tak, and the squadron approaching it passed through the shields harmlessly. They slowed down as they reached the outer hull, but they did not stop. In the blink of an eye, they passed through the hull. The other ha'taks were boarded similarly, as was the Tau'ri vessel. The squadrons approaching the Tollan war ships were not so fortunate though. Instead of passing through the shields, they bounced off, spinning wildly into space. Many of them died from the impact.

Aboard the Tau'ri ship, five Jaffa stood in an empty hallway and pulled off their helmets. From their waists they drew Zat'ni'katels, and from their backs they drew swords.

!

Major Miles West, nephew to the general that had helped to start the Stargate program, found a great sense of calm in a dogfight; a kind of calm that he hadn't been able to find anywhere else in life. He found it paradoxical of course, but he didn't care. Being brought into the F-302 program had been the best thing to ever happen to him. His assignment to the Prometheus squadron had been a near guarantee of action, and he hadn't been disappointed.

"Hard left, sir!" called out his co-pilot, Captain Young.

Miles didn't question the exclamation; he just pulled hard to the left. Moments later, an explosion gently rocked Prometheus-2. He gave a slight pat to the display in front of him. His bird had taken some damage in that botched rescue, but only the hyperdrive was still offline. Fortunately, it wasn't needed for this particular battle.

"What was that?" he asked.

"Al'kesh," answered the Captain. "One of theirs. I'm getting new orders from Prometheus Actual. Eyes open for black armored astronauts. Engage with extreme prejudice."

"Got it," said Miles with a shrug. He'd had stranger orders.

"I'm sending you coordinates. Mothership twelve needs relief from a squadron of death gliders."

Miles called up the information and changed their heading. "I see them. Coordinate with Prometheus-1. Let's see how close we can get that formation together. Calculate optimal for box-3." The Captain would be the one to calculate the right time to fire the missile into the formation of death gliders.

The battle was sheer chaos. Only two ha'taks had been destroyed so far, both free Jaffa ships. More al'kesh and death gliders had been destroyed on both sides than could be counted though. Looking at any point gave a view of explosions and weapons fire, often against the backdrop of the black hole. Miles had never seen anything so beautiful.

They were ten seconds away from the squadron when the captain called out, "Two death gliders getting on our tail."

"Good," said Miles, wearing a grin behind his facemask.

The fifteen death gliders were flying together, making a strafing run on the ha'tak. Prometheus-1 came around the ha'tak from above them, at an angle, it's rail guns taking out a couple gliders and causing the others to bunch together. Coming from their rear, Miles started firing moments later.

"We're in range of their weapons," said the Captain, as shots started flying around them.

"Activate aerospikes," said Miles, as he flew an evasive pattern.

"Crap," muttered the Captain, as he activated the system.

"Hold on to your-" his last word was cut off by a grunt as the rockets engaged. Miles pulled back hard, letting the two tailing gliders join the squadron.

"NOW!" called the Captain.

Inertial dampeners were an incredible addition to the fighter, but they only compensated so much. Even with them, they were pulling three G's. Then Miles pulled a complete 180 flip. The pressure was incredible, and Miles only had a split second to target and fire the missile.

The death gliders tried to break away when he fired, but they didn't have time; Miles was too close already. His fighter continued it's former trajectory and flew backwards as the last death glider was consumed by the fiery explosion.

Suddenly, a black clad figure slammed into the cockpit. Miles let out an explicative as the Captain began relaying the situation to the Prometheus. The soldier had managed to get a handhold on the wing, and he reached behind him, drawing a sword.

"That doesn't look good," said the Lieutenant.

"Turn off the inertial dampeners," shouted Miles.

The soldier drove the sword through the wing and Miles punched the main rockets, diving forward to avoid the ha'tak. The soldier went flying, and as he did the sword sliced through the wing like butter. The lights in front of him shut off.

"Crap," said the Captain.

!

Harry reflected that maybe he should have just jumped in somewhere close to the ring room. He had been waiting for ten minutes, and there was still no sign of Anubis. _Had he taken another route? Perhaps they had over planned this aspect of the attack. If this part, then perhaps the whole thing!_ He scowled at himself. Now was no time to doubt the plan.

Tired of simply standing there, Harry went to a small computer terminal. It was meant only for inventorying, but it was connected to the ship's mainframe, and Harry quickly accessed the ship's schematics. He scowled. So much for Jaffa intelligence; he would have to run if he wanted to catch Anubis in a corridor, and not in the better-defended bridge. He sprinted through the corridors, only having to silence a few Jaffa on the way.

Harry finally reached a corridor that Anubis would hopefully soon reach. He ducked behind a corner, straining his ears, and making sure his deep breaths for air were quiet. He didn't have to wait long. Hearing the approach of a number of loud footsteps, Harry rounded the corner and faced Anubis and his guards.

Harry immediately recognized their mark and their garb labeling them K'lendo'than Assassins, not seen since Anubis's first fall. A line of verse came to mind, 'They appeared as Death incarnate. Their dance was final and their blade unforgiving. The blood of their enemies painted a picture of the end of my years. Bow your heads, all you who look upon the Phantoms of Black Mist.' Harry hoped that they made better assassins than guards.

"Your elite guard, I presume," said Harry.

"You must realize that they will kill you," said Anubis. The outermost Jaffa unsheathed their swords, while those closest to Anubis leveled staffs.

"I've had worse odds," said Harry. He raised his assassin's lance.

!

"What's the matter, Black? Nervous?"

Sirius's scowl deepened as he glared at the Colonel. "No," he whispered in response. "I'm just trying to remember something."

"So help me," whispered Jack, "if you say, 'the plan'…"

"I know the plan," Sirius rebutted quietly. "I just… I should know something that would make this a lot easier."

"Like what?" asked Daniel.

"I don't know," said Sirius, "that's the problem."

"Wait," said Sam, "can't you become invisible?"

"Yes!" Sirius exclaimed quietly. "That's it."

"Well what are you waiting for?" asked Jack.

"I don't know how!"

"Of all the things to-"

"I'd like to see you do better in my place," said Sirius.

"I wouldn't be in your place," said O'Neill.

"Right," said Sirius, "because you would have just left your godson to wander the dangerous galaxy all on your own."

"No, I would have been there for him in the first place."

Sirius said nothing, not having the memories needed to defend himself from the charge.

"Sir," Samantha interrupted. "We're here."

"Alright then," said Sirius, "show time."

Falling to the ground, Sirius transformed into a large black dog. He wagged his tail and did an odd four legged jump. Rounding the corner he charged down the corridor, right past the two startled Jaffa standing guard on the long entryway to the weapon's room.

Both of the Jaffa standing guard on either side of the long entryway to the main weapon's relay turned their heads to follow the odd sight. The one further along left his position to chase him. Sirius turned to face the Jaffa and let out a loud bark.

That was the cue for O'Neill and Teal'c to run out and open fire, taking both Jaffa unawares with quiet shots from Zat'ni'katels. This of course did not go beyond the notice of the four guards standing in the short hallway to the weapons relay, and a goa'uld stun grenade was thrown out at them.

O'Neill and Teal'c promptly fell to the ground as bright white light and a sharp metallic whine filled the corridor. Fortunately, Sirius's physiology was quite different at the time; he was still left reeling though, entirely disoriented. For a few moments, all Sirius could see was white, and the only sound that penetrated the ringing in his sensitive ears was gunfire. Transforming back into himself set the world to rights.

Samantha and the history doctor were standing on either side of the entryway, using the corners as cover, and trading fire with the remaining Jaffa. There was another Jaffa on the ground, apparently having run out after the grenade had been thrown. Sirius scowled and drew his wand. Marching out into the open, he cast a shield that immediately began taking shots from that strange orange energy. He took note of the placement of the two Jaffa remaining. Stepping back next to the history doctor, he lowered his shield and shouted at the man, "What's that wall made of?" He pointed to the wall opposite the entryway.

"Gold," shouted the Doctor.

Sirius nodded, and pointed his wand at the wall and shouted, "Reuelius Tellum!"

The wall contorted, as though strings were being drawn up from a vertical pool of golden liquid, and spears shot out, flying quickly down the corridor. A couple of screams were heard, and then nothing.

"Right," said Sirius, "I'll take care of those two," he pointed to their two fallen companions. He walked down the hallway and pointed his wand at Teal'c and O'Neill in turn, muttering "Enervate."

Teal'c blinked rapidly for a moment, and sat up. O'Neill groaned. "Hate when that happens."

"I can imagine," said Sirius, recalling his own experience with the stun grenade.

The three of them joined the two doctors at the door to the weapons relay.

"It needs an access code, Sir," said Samantha.

"Alright," said O'Neill, "C4."

Sirius cleared his throat and muttered, "Alohamora."

The two large doors slid open with a loud rumble.

"You have to admit, Sir," said Samantha, "he's useful to have along."

"Useful," Jack agreed, clearly suggesting that it was the only good thing to be said.

Sirius just shrugged. He supposed he'd hold a grudge if someone drugged him in his own home. They walked into the large room. There was an impressive mechanism in the middle, with a large display of colorful crystals.

"Now we can use the C4," said Samantha.

The Colonel smiled.

!

"I'm receiving a mayday from a rebel al'kesh. They need help while they repair their shields."

Colonel William Ronson addressed the Captain at the Con. "Tell them they can use ours. Helm, take us between them and their attackers. Major Field's, what's the status of our Death Gliders?"

"Two are ready for launch, the other won't be going anywhere else."

"Launch them when it's safe," said William, "Get the other pilots to help with the fighting on deck 4."

They had known that Anubis had found a counter for phase shifting technology, but had had no idea that he had managed phase shifting itself. Thank God he hadn't yet been able to apply it to weapons as the Tollans had. The black armored killers had managed to bypass all security. Doors were walked through, attackers shrugged off. They were getting uncomfortably close to the bridge. Addressing the Con. Officer again, he said, "Have Major Yoshida send someone up here to brief me on the fighting."

"The Major's dead, Sir. Relaying order to Captain Reid."

Major Fields at Telemetry spoke up. "Death Gliders away, Sir. They're joining a nearby formation."

They were taking heavy fire now from the two al'kesh they were defending against. He addressed Lieutenant Drescher at Weapons.

"Launch Tacticals 9 through 12 at the two al'kesh."

"We're awfully close, Sir," said the Lieutenant, even as he moved to carry out the order.

"That's the point," said William, they would have less time to shoot down the rockets. "Our shields can take it."

"Missiles away," a slight pause and a gentle shudder went through the ship, "two detonated on the closest al'kesh, I'm reading heavy damage. Other two were shot down."

At that moment, Sergeant Hayfield ran onto the bridge.

"Fire at will," William told the Lieutenant. Turning to the Sergeant he said, "Report!"

"They've reached level three, sir. They almost have a direct line to the bridge."

"Casualties?"

"At least fifteen, sir. They don't pass anyone without killing them."

"Why haven't we been able to stop them?"

"One of them is down sir, but their armor's bullet proof, and their swords… catch zat'ni'katel energy. They're fast too, sir. It was only a lucky shot that took the one down."

"Why aren't they using their phase shifting technology to come straight here?"

Major Fields spoke up from Telemetry. "The technology can incapacitate you if it's used too much. They wouldn't want to collapse moments after taking the bridge."

"Then that's how we get them," said Will.

"Sir," said the Sergeant, "we're giving them as good of a fight as we can."

Will shook his head. "Pull our men back. Seal all bulkheads and prepare to open starboard airlocks."

"Sir, they've kept their helmets at their waists. We won't be able to suffocate them."

"Yes, but they'll have to activate their phase shift if they don't want to be sucked out. Pull back staff from levels 2, 3, 4, and 5, and leave the connecting doors wide open. And pull our best marksmen to the bridge."

"Sir," said Major Fields, "two squadrons of death gliders are approaching."

"Bring rail guns to bear," he replied.

!

The beam of the assassin lance went straight through the first two Jaffa on his right. He took an instant to regret his Ancient shield device running out of energy before shooting himself down the hallway on the other side of Anubis, avoiding bolts of plasma.

Another energy lance took out the two closest Jaffa, now on his right, even as they moved gracefully to avoid it. He had to roll to dodge a staff blast. A wave of energy from his hand device pushed the Jaffa furthest from him flying down the hall as he turned to engage the other two. The one with the staff was the most dangerous, and Harry leapt at him, grabbing the weapon, and swinging the Jaffa around so that he was between Harry and the sword bearing Jaffa. While the Jaffa was unable to swing his Staff, Harry pulled himself up on it and rammed his knife into the Jaffa's neck.

Harry took a step back, giving himself room against the nearest sword bearing Jaffa, as he shot the fallen staff bearer with his lance. The two with swords were left, and the one on his feet charged him. In a move that seemed more like a dance, Harry stepped closer and to the side, neatly avoiding a strike that would have split open his belly. He ducked a return strike, and then the second one was there.

The two Jaffa clearly knew how to work together against a single opponent, and for a moment it was all Harry could do to stay alive. A slice on his leg, and another on his chest belied their skill. They moved too fast for Harry to take a moment to shoot away. In the end, it was not Harry's skills in the martial arts that saved him. As Harry ducked a swing towards his neck, a well-placed kick hit him in the side of his chest, the loud crack indicated broken ribs. Harry was sent directly towards the other Jaffa, and barely twisted out of the way of another swing. The swing turned into a stab that went through his left shoulder. As the Jaffa jerked his blade up, cleaving cleanly through Harry's shoulder bone, Harry extended his right hand and blew back the other Jaffa. With a bare twitch of his left hand, the assassin's lance bore a hole through the leg of the Jaffa who had just stabbed him, and when he fell, another lance took him in the chest. Finally, Harry threw a ball of plasma at the head of the further Jaffa. They both slumped to the ground, dead.

Harry took a moment to catch his breath as he stared off with Anubis, before he turned over and painfully pushed himself to his feet with his right hand. The weight of his left arm pulling down was agonizing, but Harry pushed through the pain as his healing abilities drastically started slowing the bleeding, and helped to ensure that enough blood was getting through the unsevered tissue to keep the arm alive.

"You sure of you prediction now?" asked Harry.

"You will die eventually, as will _all _you know," said Anubis. "I will not."

"Yeah?" said Harry. "Let's see about that."

!

"Master Bra'tac," called out the young Jaffa at the helm. "Two squadrons of Anubis's death gliders have been dispatched towards the cargo ships."

"Then we must come to their aid," said Bra'tac. He still found it hard to believe that the painted symbols on the ships were the key to victory, but he had accepted long ago that there were powers in the universe that were beyond him. He just did not believe that the goa'uld possessed them.

Studying the complex map of the battle, he came to a decision. "Take us to intercept the closest squadron, and relay orders to our twelfth squadron to intercept the other."

"Yes, Master Bra'tac," replied the Jaffa.

"How long will it take us to reach them?"

"At least a minute."

The sudden sound of men shouting and the fire of weapons made them all turn their heads towards the corridor.

"Seal that door!" Bra'tac commanded, and one of the warriors standing guard quickly moved to activate the closing mechanism. The doors sealed in less than two seconds. However, the doors served them no purpose. Two black-armored Jaffa walked through, instantly swinging their blades at the two guards. One was killed instantly with a large slice at the neck that nearly decapitated him. The other was momentarily saved by his interposed Staff, though that was rendered useless when the blade cleaved it in two.

So these were the invading warriors that they had heard of. Bra'tac drew his Zat'ni'katel, but had to dive out of the way of his enemy's own wash of blue energy. The black clad warriors were fearsome to behold. If Bra'tac had not known better, he would have thought they possessed the abilities of the boy Harry Potter. They moved with a suddenness that almost made them seem to jump instantly across the room. Never before had he seen warriors so effortlessly dodge Staff fire.

Still, they were out numbered and surrounded. One of the attackers eventually was felled, first by one and then another Staff blast in the back. And then, though it seemed impossible, Bra'tac was the only one left standing, with the one warrior on the other side of the room.

"I should have you know," said Bra'tac, drawing his dagger, "that I am no easy meat."

The warrior said nothing, and simply charged. Bra'tac fired his Zat'ni'katel rapidly, but each wash of blue was absorbed by a swing of the blade. Then the warrior was upon him, and the dance truly began. Bra'tac ducked, stepped, and swung his own blade for all that he was worth. He even drew first blood, a small gash on the warriors cheek, but he then found himself backed into a corner; no doubt by the warriors design. The black clad figure wasted no time in raising the killing blow, but he fell instead; a knife had blossomed in the back of his neck.

Bra'tac's eyes traveled across the room, where a young Jaffa by the name of Mol'sh was slumped against the wall, his right arm still extended from the throw. His left arm clutched at a hemorrhaging wound on his stomach.

"I die free, Master Bra'tac," he said.

Bra'tac rushed across the room to him, and helped to put pressure on the wound, though he knew it would do no good.

"You die with great honor, my student. I am in your debt."

The young Jaffa smiled. "Give me victory," he whispered.

"It is yours," said Bra'tac, as the life left the Jaffa's eyes. He set the boy down and opened the doors to the corridor, letting in the Jaffa who had been locked out. They had cargo ships to save, and a battle to win. And if he was not mistaken, there were three more warriors to track down and kill aboard his ship.

!

Aboard Anubis's mother ship, Harry was starting to feel light headed.

"What?" he asked, struggling to pronounce the question without slurring.

"The engine coolant you are breathing will not kill you," said Anubis, "rest assured that I will do that. Your shield has only been slowing the spread of the gas, but it will soon overcome you."

Harry's shield could keep him safe in a vacuum, but it didn't completely restrict the transference of air molecules when the pressures were equal. His eyes were drawn to the gauntlets on Anubis's faux wrists. Of course, they had likely been the controls Anubis had used to have the corridor flooded with engine coolant. Harry pulled out his breather and drew in a deep, pure breath. He still didn't have very long; the coolant in his system would render him unconscious soon.

"I'll just have to get this done with then," he said, checking an indicator on his own wrist that let him know that the cargo ships were all in position. Knowing that Anubis's shield body would be strong enough to squash him like a bug, Harry stayed back and weakly raised his left hand. It was not magic he called upon, but the assassins lance.

Anubis laughed. "Did you think that I would give my assassins a weapon that was powerful enough to destroy my own shield?"

"No," said Harry awkwardly around the breather, "but I did think it would help." He drew his other hand from behind his back and threw the largest ball of plasma he could manage at Anubis. Under the combined attack, the shield fell, and for the second time, Harry saw Anubis in his true form. He wasn't sure if he was just biased, but he was pretty sure that Anubis's black haze was radiating evil.

Harry didn't give Anubis time to flee or try to possess him. Keeping his right hand out, he called, "Congelo malum phasmatis." The black mist froze, hanging still in midair. Harry felt his knees sag, and he fell painfully onto them; he managed to stay upright. His mind was getting fuzzy, but fortunately his mind was impressive enough that that was not much of a handicap. Pulling the clear quartz crystal from a pocket, Harry held it out in his hand as he called out the words that Sirius had drilled into him. "Vos Peregrinus Ags Solvo Pre Diutius. Exsistito Es Insum, Carcer Vestri.

It felt as though the crystal was drawing his own life energy out through his hand, and Harry had to put his other hand down on the ground to keep himself up, but slowly, Anubis's frozen form contorted and stretched to the crystal. As he became weaker, Harry wondered for the first time if this was going to kill him. Finally, a single tendril of Anubis's being touched the crystal and the rest of him was quickly drawn in.

The now black crystal in hand, Harry collapsed onto the ground, his vision going black. He remained conscious enough to hear approaching footsteps. Just what he needed, Anubis's reinforcements. Wait, those were rubber soles he was hearing.

"Expulsum Aer Nocens!"

It wasn't the most painful thing Harry had ever felt, but it ranked above the pain in his arm. "OWW!" he called out. The pain was over in a few moments though, and his head began to clear.

"Darn it, Sirius," he said, "What the heck was that?"

"What do you mean 'what was that?'" said Sirius. "I want to know what that is," he said, pointing to Harry's shoulder.

"Flesh wound," said Harry defensively, "it's mostly stopped bleeding."

Sam was kneeling down next to him in an instant, though Harry hadn't noticed her moving.

"They cut clean through your clavicle, Harry."

"A bit more than his clavicle," said Sirius indignantly. He tapped Harry's shoulder with his wand and Harry found most of his left side to be suddenly immobile.

"That feels a lot better, actually. Not like that other spell."

"Yes well," said Sirius, "I wound up pulling the toxins out of you directly through your tissues."

"Ow," said Harry.

"It was the only thing I could think of," Sirius shrugged.

"Right," said Harry, drawing deep breaths and getting shakily to his feet. "Aren't you guys supposed to be taking care of the shields right about now?"

Sam shook her head. "Security in that area was higher than we expected. We decided to come get you. We got your position from the Tollans," she said, gesturing to the tracker on Harry's ankle.

"Oh," said Harry, "thanks."

"Don't mention it," said Jack. "That Anubis?" he asked, looking at the black crystal that Harry still had clutched.

"Yep," said Harry. "What do you say we get out of here?" he asked.

"Sounds like a plan," said Jack, as Sam got onto her radio.

"Colonel Ronson, this is SG-1. We have Harry and Anubis, we're ready to get out of here."

"Copy that, SG-1," came the Colonel's voice. "Coming to a relative stop."

Captain Walker, the helmsman, came on the line. "Relative stop in 4, 3, 2, 1. Apparation coordinates 6-3-9 point 7-4-2 by 8-3-7 point 6-9-0 by negative 1-9-9 point 3-3-1."

"Five side-along apparitions," Sirius muttered, as he took a hold of Harry's arm. With an almighty lurch and an unpleasant squeezing sensation, the two of them appeared on the bridge. Seconds later, Sirius reappeared with Sam, and then with Daniel, Teal'c, and Finally Jack.

"What happened here?" asked Harry, referring to the considerable blood splatters on the walls.

"Anubis's answer to a special ops team," was all that the Colonel said before the Prometheus was at battle once more.

Harry wandered over to telemetry, and saw that Two of Anubis's ha'taks had been destroyed. The rest of Anubis's fleet was taking a defensive position around Anubis's mother ship. On the other hand, the allied fleet was fairing much better, and was going in for the kill. The screen lit up again and again as Anubis's fleet was being systematically destroyed.

"If we tell them we've captured Anubis," said Daniel, "they might surrender."

Harry shook his head a little sadly. "More likely they'd make a suicide mission of destroying us in order to release Anubis. They know he could survive it."

"Could we not simply inform them that their false god is dead?" asked Teal'c.

"That could work," said Harry. "Without Anubis there to counter the claim, they may lose faith. Most of them were already forced to lose faith in one god when the System Lords were killed. This could break them."

"Or it could make them suicidal," Jack pointed out, ever the devil's advocate.

"Perhaps they deserve the option," said the Colonel. "Let's take it up with the rest of the fleet. Con, put out the message."

The officer at the Con didn't send out the actual message of course, he simply relayed it to the room next to the bridge where there were crewmen in constant communication with the other battle ships, relaying messages to and from the bridge. Almost a minute later the officer replied, "We have agreement from Commander Tellis and Master Bra'tac."

"Very, well," said the Colonel. "Give me a broadcast out to his entire fleet."

"Aye-aye, sir."

With a signal from the officer, the Colonel stood and addressed a camera nestled in the middle of a bank of monitors to his left.

"Enemy forces, this is Colonel Ronson of the Earth ship Prometheus. Our forces have assassinated Anubis aboard his mother ship. Surrender now, and you will be shown mercy. If you do not, we will continue to destroy you."

A face finally showed on one of the screens closest to the camera, Anubis's first prime by the look of him.

"You lie!" he said authoritatively. "Anubis is a god, and cannot be killed."

"So where is he?" asked the Colonel. "The goa'uld have never been shy about proving themselves. Show me your god; prove to me that he is not dead. You can't. Your god's folly has led you to your death, as assuredly as his own."

"We will fight to the death for our god!"

"You have no one to fight for but yourself. Anubis's silence proves it."

Another face appeared on another screen.

"This ha'tak is standing down. We surrender completely."

"Shol'va!" called the first prime. "You dare to betray your god!" A flash of golden red light struck him in the back, and he collapsed. He was quickly replaced by another Jaffa.

"Anubis's guards have been found dead. No trace of Anubis can be found outside of what remains of his clothing. We are prepared to stand down."

After that announcement, the fleet couldn't surrender fast enough. A number of the ha'taks were commanded by goa'uld, but it was no surprise that they surrendered. Goa'uld were far more cowardly than the Jaffa that served them.

In the end, it was only a few ships and death gliders that refused to surrender, and they were quickly either destroyed or disabled. Soon it was Commander Tellis's face that graced the screen, next to Master Bra'tac's. After Commander Tellis arranged to pick up all stranded fighters and Death Gliders, Master Bra'tac asked. "Is it certain that Anubis cannot be destroyed in this form?"

"We're as certain as we can be," said Harry. "There just isn't a lot of information on the subject. We do know that destroying the crystal will simply free Anubis."

"And this black hole could not contain him?" the Jaffa leader asked.

"Probably, it could," said Harry. "But we don't even know for certain that he's affected by gravity in this form. Eventually, the forces of the black hole would destroy the crystal, and then Anubis could perhaps be freed."

"The Asgard should be more than adequate wardens for him," said Colonel Ronson. "As I understand it, they plan on encasing him in seven tons of a Trinium alloy, and placing him somewhere in an uninhabited galaxy. If they never find a way to destroy him, he'd still be likely to sit there until the end of time."

"Then let today mark the day that we ensured that our grand children would never have to fear the name Anubis," said Master Bra'tac. "Nay! Let this be known as the day the goa'uld knew their last days to be at hand."

Jack cleared his throat. "Intergalactic Freedom Day isn't enough of a mouthful for you?"


	15. Epilogue

Epilogue

"Are you sure you're ready for this, Harry?" asked Sam.

Harry scoffed. "No," he said, "but I'm tired of being haunted by the memories. I don't know if this will make things better, but maybe it'll give me some kind of closure."

"Alright," said Sam, stepping onto the ring platform. "I'll radio up when it's safe."

"Okay," said Harry. "And Sam, thanks."

Sam smiled at him. "No problem, Harry." She shrugged, "Besides, one of us needed to come along."

Harry nodded. He didn't want to think of what could happen if he tried to do this alone. When Sam disappeared into the rings, Harry walked to the bridge of the al'kesh he had commandeered after the battle. He didn't know yet if he would keep it or not. Somehow it didn't feel right that it was nearly identical to the Tar'Chell. Harry was toying with the idea of designing his own ship.

Sitting alone in the pel'tak, Harry reflected on the events since Anubis's capture. True to his promise to Sirius, Harry had taken a step back from the goings on of the galaxy. Sirius wasn't the only one to applaud the decision. Indeed, no one had said anything against it, not that Harry wasn't having second thoughts himself.

Still, the goa'uld, while still having a presence in the galaxy, had lost their stranglehold. The Jaffa rebellion had grown exponentially, and was taking its first steps towards being one people. There wasn't galactic peace, but Harry was beginning to see that he wasn't needed to personally take care of everything.

The thing that really made him want to reconsider his decision was that the Tollans were reverting to their isolationist policy. It wasn't that Narim didn't want to deal with the goa'uld, but his people were tired of war. Although, maybe it was a good thing that the Tollans were lying low for a while: the Jaffa were still furious that they had confiscated all of the phase shifting suits from the battle.

Finally, Sam's voice came in over the radio. "Harry, they're ready."

"Alright," said Harry, feeling a little nervous. He was going to jump down, but then thought better of it. Walking over to the ring room, Harry went down to the planet the old fashioned way. Sam greeted him on the surface.

"Welcome back to Calaissis," she said.

"Thanks," said Harry miserably.

"I've explained everything to them already," said Sam. "Well, not the part where you actually do have god-like powers." Harry rolled his eyes. "But they do know that you can still use goa'uld technology."

Harry nodded.

"Don't worry, Harry. They understand that a host has no control over its body. They don't hold anything against you."

Harry would believe that when he saw it.

They walked into the village, where a large crowd waited, looking more curious than angry. Harry and Sam stopped before them. Harry cleared his throat, reminding himself that he had faced Anubis more than once and survived.

"Er, hi. I'm Harry, and I was a host to Isis. And when he was in me, he came here and invaded your village and he killed one of you." Harry cleared his throat again. "Becoming free of him was the greatest thing that ever happened to me, and I would like to share that with you, because I am very sorry for what happened." Harry was pretty sure that that had sounded awkward, but he pushed on. Anyway, I have a healing device, and I thought that maybe some of you could be ill, or have injuries that haven't completely healed. And also, that I could heal them," he finished lamely.

One man, who looked important, said, "You can work in our town square."

Harry nodded, and Sam guided him to the square. Business was slow at first, but as word got out about what Harry could do, more and more people came. Some came with injuries or chronic illnesses, but many came just to watch. Finally, someone came who Harry had been dreading, though he didn't know it yet.

"What can I do for you?" Harry asked her.

"My boy's name was Jeorg."

"Oh," said Harry faintly, knowing instantly who Jeorg had been.

"He was such a sweet boy, and happy. I miss him so much," the woman said sadly. "You do not look like a very happy boy."

Harry shook his head mutely.

"You must be hungry," the woman continued. "Working so hard. Little boys are always hungry. I will bring you some sweet bread; you will like that. Jeorg did. I think that he would have liked you, Harry."

"O-Okay," said Harry, at a complete loss as to how to deal with the situation.

"I will be right back," said the woman.

Harry had imagined such a conversation before, more than once. Never had he imagined anything other than hate. Offers of food had been completely off his radar. How could she not despise him? Why?

"I think the universe is a better place than you think," said Sam.

Instead of replying, Harry chose to turn his attention to a fellow with a limp.

"How long have you had that," he asked, swallowing his worries.

"For over two years now. I broke it working in the fields."

Harry nodded. "Here, lie down on the table."

He had been provided a rough wooden table to work on. "I'll have you running around in no time, but you'll probably think that it feels weird."

"I would drink the foulest potion for relief from this wound."

To his surprise, Harry felt the corners of his mouth turn up. "No potions," he said, "just healing energy."

Harry activated his healing device and let his consciousness fade into the information the healing device was giving him. As far as the man's shinbone was concerned it had been set well enough, but a nerve had been pinched, causing the man's problems. Harry set to work correcting the damage.

Pulling back, his job done, Harry was surprised by a sweet aroma. The man on the table was experimentally bending and flexing his leg with a wondrous look on his face. Harry followed his nose and saw Jeorg's mother, holding a loaf of bread.

"Is that fresh baked?" Harry startled himself by speaking.

"L'anna is always baking," said the man with two good legs.

"That's because everyone is always eating," said L'anna. "Now, you have been working too hard, it is time to take a brake."

Harry didn't dare argue with her, and he soon found himself sitting down at the table, with the bread and a pitcher of what he was fairly certain wasn't cow's milk.

"So," said L'anna, "how do you like my bread? I used dried ganna berries."

To tell the truth, taste had taken second place to the general feeling of anxiety that Harry was feeling.

"Why don't you hate me?" he blurted out.

L'anna became sad again, and Harry wished he could take the question back.

"The goa'uld did not just make us work," she said, "they used to take some of us. We only ever saw one of them again, and she was not Karenna anymore." She breathed deeply, fighting tears. "If things had been different, it could have been Jeorg that was taken by a demon. Know that I do hate, Harry Potter. But it is the goa'uld that I hate, not the little boys that they hurt." Then she did cry, and Harry realized that she wasn't the only one as he wiped tears away from his own face.

"Eat, eat," she said. "You must grow big and strong. You carry inside of you now a piece of the life that was to be Jeorg's, so you must make sure that you live well, and honorably."

Harry looked at her uncertainly. "I can do that," he said, knowing that it was a promise he would have to work hard to keep.

There was a feast that night, a modest one, of course, for a modest people. Harry was exhausted from a long day's work, but as the guest of honor, he managed to stay awake through most of it. He woke up the next morning and found himself in L'anna's home. He took a moment to ponder who had gotten him down to his small clothes, but decided he didn't care. He hated sleeping in his clothes anyway.

Once he was dressed, Harry walked out to the kitchen, where L'anna was cooking.

"Fair day, Harry," she greeted him.

"Good morning," Harry replied, smothering a yawn.

"Did you have a good night's rest?" she asked, and Harry nodded. "Good," she said. "I am making breakfast. Sit down and have a roll while you wait."

Harry dutifully sat down and began munching on a crusty roll.

"Where's Sam?" he asked L'anna.

"Jaime, you remember Jaime, right?" Harry nodded, though no firm picture of the man formed in his head. "Jaime offered her a spare bed, after she had seen that you had one."

Harry nodded, glad to hear that she'd found accommodations.

An hour later, Harry had been stuffed full, and had only been allowed to leave the kitchen table when he had assured L'anna both that he had eaten as much as he possibly could, and that he would take care of himself. He found Sam in the town center.

"Morning, Sam," he greeted her.

"Morning, Harry," she answered with a smile.

"You ready to get out of here?" he asked.

"Well yeah," said Sam, "but I'm pretty sure the townspeople wanted to send you off properly, to thank you one last time."

"Not going to happen, Sam," said Harry, "between this and defeating Anubis, I am literally all thanked out. Seriously, I might implode if someone else hugs me."

Sam looked skyward and shook her head. "Well, it's good to see you joking again," she said. "Alright, let's go."

Harry touched her shoulder, and the two of them jumped up to his al'kesh.

"So Harry," said Sam, "what's next for you?"

"You mean aside from a long vacation at a paradise planet?" he asked.

"Paradise planet," said Sam with a smile, "we may have to drop by while you're there. On purely job related business, of course."

"Of course," said Harry.

"But I meant more long term," said Sam.

"In the long term?" said Harry, "I guess I'll be going back to school," he said. No sense in turning down the best education in the galaxy.

"School's good," said Sam.

"Some exploring," said Harry, referring to the as yet unexplored planets with gates. "Maybe a little scientific pioneering while I'm at it." Harry shrugged. "I've got a galaxy and a lifetime ahead of me," he said.

"Yeah," said Sam with a smile, "you do."

Fin

A/N: Sorry everyone for such a long wait for such a short chapter. I haven't had a lot of time for writing. Good news is, the epilogue for A New Home should be up soon.

Now, most of you are probably wondering about a sequel. I have one planned. However, I don't know when I'll start writing it. It could be tomorrow, and it could be a few months from now. I'll let you know that it'll be fairly HP universe centered.


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